Classes to help family caregivers prepare for and cope with the role of caring for an older or disabled adult will be offered in Orting by Lutheran Community Services Northwest.
Beginning April 18, the series of six classes, titled Support U: Fostering Caregiver Wellness, will be held at Ss. Cosmas and Damian Church at 213 Leber St. on consecutive Tuesdays from 6:30 to 8 p.m.
The classes will cover basic information on caregiving, resources, and ways to reduce caregiver burnout.
Additional information and registration is available from Betty Skodinski at 360-893-7630 or Kay Williams at 360-893-5163.
This article is sponsored by the City of Tacoma and the Make a Splash program.
If you are buying or building a new house, or simply remodeling the one you have, your first stop these days should be the EnviroHouse at the Tacoma Recovery and Transfer Center if you are looking for ideas on how to create an energy efficient and environmentally friendly home.
That’s right. At the entrance to what old-timers called the Tacoma landfill at 3510 S. Mullen St. sits one of the best examples in the nation for green building and landscaping practices at the City of Tacoma’s “EnviroHouse.â€
“We have a little bit of everything here on display,†EnviroHouse coordinator Janda Volkmer proudly noted. “Whether it is the construction of the home, exterior, interior, utilities, appliances, the driveway or landscaping, there are a lot of great ideas and solutions here.â€
In general, EnviroHouse is a permanent model home showcasing green building and natural landscape ideas, materials and techniques in support of “a healthy home and planet.â€
EnviroHouse champions the benefits of sustainable living and building practices to homeowners, builders, suppliers, landscapers, real estate agents and the general public, highlighting readily available products for new and existing homes and yards.
In fact, EnviroHouse features more than 150 “green†interior, exterior and landscaping examples and ideas, including:
Solar electric.
Sidewalk/decking materials made with recycled content.
Recycled-content carpet, countertops, furniture and tile.
Non-toxic paint and natural bulletin boards.
Synthetic turf, natural grasses, native plants and recycled-content mulch.
Cork and bamboo flooring.
Weather-controlled irrigation system.
Water-saving showerhead display.
Organic and recycled insulation options.
Energy-efficient heat pumps, windows, lighting and appliances.
Yard, food and pet-waste composting systems.
And, if you are looking at ways to mitigate stormwater runoff in and around your property, EnviroHouse features a fully integrated rainwater management system that starts by collecting rain in roof gutters, then into rain barrels that are linked to provide water for the yard and landscaping irrigation that can be controlled by the weather.
This water-efficient system features low-evaporation spay heads and drip irrigation that applies water directly to roots to greatly reduce wasteful runoff.
As stormwater runoff from local homes, streets, sidewalks and parking lots is the main source of pollution in Commencement Bay and Puget Sound, EnviroHouse was designed to minimize its impact with a rain garden that deals with all runoff that isn’t used for irrigation.
“They have created a very unique system with our rain barrels and irrigation systems,†Volkmer acknowledged. “It is becoming more popular for those homeowners that are concerned about their local environment.â€
EnviroHouse also displays several examples of “permeable pavers†and pathways for parking and sidewalk areas that work to absorb and filter runoff, as well as direct it into a rain garden.
You will also find examples of non-toxic paint, siding, and roofing that can greatly reduce the pollutants and chemicals that get into stormwater runoff.
EnviroHouse also conducts numerous workshops each month on topics ranging from “How to Build and Maintain Rain Barrels†and rain gardens, to overviews on solar power and ductless heat pumps. There also are workshops on native landscaping, gardening, and getting started with backyard chickens or beekeeping.
“The rain barrel and rain garden workshops are very popular and fill up quickly, so you should plan ahead on those sessions,†Volkmer advised.
In general, the number of visitors who drop by EnviroHouse has increased greatly over the past several years in conjunction with the increase in popularity in green living and sustainability, Volkmer reported. And it isn’t just Tacoma residents that come to check out what EnviroHouse has to offer. Of the thousands of visitors to the model home, nearly 40 percent come from outside city limits.
EnviroHouse started in the late 1990s as the “Green House,†a green-living demonstration facility operated by Pierce County Solid Waste Division and displayed for many years at the Washington State Fair in Puyallup until 2004, when it was acquired by the City of Tacoma Solid Waste Division and moved to land at the Tacoma Recovery and Transfer Center to be a permanent demonstration facility open year-round to the public.
EnviroHouse is now a collaboration among City of Tacoma Solid Waste Management, Wastewater Management and Surface Water Management, Tacoma Power, Tacoma Water, and the Master Builders Association of Pierce County.
Remodeling, design and landscape services were provided by Bates Technical College, BCRA, City of Tacoma Streets and Grounds Division, Morley-DeLoma Architects, Tacoma Public Utilities Grounds Maintenance Division, The Berger Partnership, Washington Conservation Corps, and York Enterprises.
EnviroHouse is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends. Call 253-573-2426 for other information.
Steve Kruse, who wrote this article, is a freelance writer.
Fred Oldfield, the venerable painter of cowboy and western life, died Feb. 24 in Tacoma at the age of 98.
He had been ill recently.
From the time he became a full-time artist at age 60, Oldfield was a well-respected painter and passionate about teaching aspiring young artists. He taught art at the Fred Oldfield Western Heritage and Art Center, on the grounds of the Washington State Fair in Puyallup. The center includes a museum with artifacts from the old West, along with displays of paintings and art by Oldfield and other artists.
On Facebook, family members described him as “the most amazing daddy, grandfather, husband, friend, artist and gramps to hundreds of children.†The latter reference was to the art classes for youngsters at the art center that bears his name.
In an article in Senior Scene last October, Oldfield had a ready quip when he was asked if he ever considered retiring: “From what? I paint and I fish. What should I give up?”
Oldfield first dabbled in painting at the age of 17. Among other things, he painted a flower on a bunkhouse wall.
He was raised on an Indian reservation in Yakima, and worked on tribe-owned cattle ranches.
“I basically rode with the Indians herding cows during cattle rounds,†he said while chatting at his booth at the arts festival in Eatonville last August. “I started painting western art scenes from what was seen on the reservation and during the roundups.â€
After serving with the Army in World War II, Oldfield attended art school in Seattle and began painting murals in Alaska, Canada and the Northwest. Since then, his paintings have been purchased by private collectors worldwide and displayed in art museums.
Oldfield, who would have turned 99 in March, was preceded in death by his wife. A memorial service will be held for him this spring at a date and location to be determined, according to his family.
As he did for all 45 of the annual Eatonville Lions Arts Festivals, artist Fred Oldfield last August displayed his western paintings and happily talked to visitors at his booth at about his days working on cattle roundups. The life he led was part of the inspiration for his western paintings. (The Dispatch)
Social Security has you covered, even outside our nation’s borders. They’re with you through life’s journey, even if you’re traveling outside the United States.
Many people who travel or live outside the country receive some kind of Social Security benefit, including retired and disabled workers, as well as spouses, widows, widowers, and children.
If you’re a U.S. citizen, you may receive your Social Security payments outside the U.S. as long as you are eligible. When Social Security says you are “outside the United States,†that means you’re not in one of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, or American Samoa. Once you’ve been outside the United States for at least 30 days in a row, Social Security considers you to be outside the country. Whether you’re off to Europe, or considering a stay in our newly reopened neighbor, Cuba, you may be able to receive your Social Security benefits even while you’re outside the United States. If you receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI), you cannot receive benefits if you’re outside of the United States for a month or more.
If you’re traveling outside the U.S. for an extended amount of time, it’s important that you tell Social Security the date you plan to leave and the date you plan to come back, no matter how long you expect your travel to last.
You can use this online tool to find out if you can continue to receive your Social Security benefits if you are outside the United States or are planning to go outside the United States at www.socialsecurity.gov/international/payments_outsideUS.html. This tool will help you find out if your retirement, disability, or survivor’s payments will continue as long as you are eligible, stop after six consecutive calendar months, or if certain country-specific restrictions apply.
When you live outside the United States, Social Security sends you a questionnaire periodically. Your answers will help figure out if you still are eligible for benefits.
Return the questionnaire to the office that sent it as soon as possible. If you don’t, your payments will stop. In addition to responding to the questionnaire, notify Social Security promptly about changes that could affect your payments.
You can also read the publication titled “Your Payments While You Are Outside the United States†at www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs.
Securing today and tomorrow is Social Security’s priority, no matter where you might be living.
Kirk Larson, who wrote this article, is a Social Security public affairs specialist for western Washington.
