Pierce County residents can learn how to grow their own food during the 2015 Edible Gardens workshop series, which runs from February through November. The free series of monthly workshops, which are sponsored by Pierce County and the Pierce Conservation District, teach beginning gardeners how to plan a garden, prepare the soil, plant seeds, and harvest the food they’ve grown.
Each workshop is designed to help students throughout the growing season by addressing what needs to be done in the garden that month. The classes combine presentations with hands-on activities.
“Each student’s knowledge will grow along with their garden, as they see their plantings go from seed to table,†said Stephanie Leisle, Pierce County Public Works and Utilities environmental educator. “Attendees are sure to leave the classes excited about planting a garden and harvesting their own food. The collaborative environment and ability to share experiences benefits everyone from first-timers to experienced gardeners.â€
Classes are taught by educators from Pierce County Public Works and Utilities, Pierce Conservation District’s Harvest Pierce County program and Tacoma Public Utilities.
Two classes – Fruit Trees and Perennial Edible Gardens – have been added to this year’s series. The popularity of the series, now in its fourth year, has also led to an additional class location in Parkland at the Parkland/Spanaway Library.
The free monthly classes are held at five locations in Pierce County:
Puyallup – First Tuesdays from 6-8 p.m. at Washington State University Extension Puyallup, 2607 W Pioneer
Lakewood – Second Wednesdays (except Feb and Nov) from 6-8 p.m. at Lakewood Community Center, 9112 Lakewood Dr. SW
Parkland – Second Thursdays from 6-8 p.m. at Parkland/Spanaway Library, 13718 Pacific Ave. S
Orting – Third Tuesdays from 6-8 p.m. at Washington Soldiers Home, 1301 Orting Kapowsin Highway E
Tacoma – Third Saturdays from 10 a.m. to noon at Tagro Conference Center, Cleveland Way near Portland Ave.
Additional schedule and registration information along with class descriptions are available at www.piercecountywa.org/ediblegardens.
Three documentary films ¬¬– one of them about a World War II veteran who’s become a legendary fly fisherman, one about a photographer who was still an attention-getter in her 90s, and another featuring elders’ personal stories — will be shown in March at the Key Center branch of Pierce County Library in the Silver Cinema Series, subtitled “The Art of Aging in Film and Community.â€
The free screenings, each scheduled for 2 p.m., includes:
• March 8, “The Elders.†Individual vignettes of elders sharing their personal coming-of-age stories to consider and understand universal lessons of life.
• March 15, “Mending the Line.†Legendary fly fisherman Frank Moore, now in his 90s, returns to the streams of Normandy he discovered as a soldier in World War II, invoking many memories.
• March 22, “Her Aim is True.†The legacy of Northwest rock band photographer Jini Dellaccio is captured in this film made in her 90s.
The library is at 8905 KPN in Lakebay.
Free refreshments and transportation will be sponsored by The Mustard Seed Project and Friends of the Key Center Library. More information is available from The Mustard Seed Project at 253-884-9814.
Jini Dellaccio, who was a Northwest rock band photographer, is the subject of a documentary film that will be shown at Pierce County Library’s Key Center branch.
There is an old saying: “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.†That is very true when you start to consider retirement. The 2014 annual national survey, Assessing Household Savings, revealed that while most Americans are meeting immediate financial needs, they are worse off than several years ago.
• Only about one-third of Americans feel prepared for their long-term financial future.
• 68 percent reported that they are spending less than their income and saving the difference. Down from 73 percent in 2010.
• Nearly two-thirds of respondents (64 percent) said that they “have sufficient emergency savings to pay for unexpected expenses like car repairs or a doctor visit.†Down from 71 percent in 2010.
• 76 percent said that they are reducing their consumer debt, or are consumer debt-free. Down from 79 percent in 2010.
If you haven’t begun saving for retirement, now is a good time to start—no matter what your age. If retirement is near, you’ll want to jump into the fast lane right away. If you’re younger and retirement seems a lifetime away, it’s still in your best interest to begin saving now. For example, a 25-year old who begins saving $100 a month and earns a modest 5 percent interest will have more than $150,000 at age 65. Experts agree that saving when you’re young will make a world of difference when the time comes to draw on your retirement savings.
Don’t just take our word for it. You can check out the numbers yourself. A great way to start figuring out how much you will need for retirement is to use Social Security’s online Retirement Estimator, which offers an instant and personalized estimate of your future Social Security retirement benefits based on your earnings record. Try it today at www.socialsecurity.gov/estimator.
We encourage saving for retirement, but there are reasons to save for every stage of life. A great place to go for help is www.mymoney.gov (the official U.S. government’s website dedicated to teaching Americans the basics of finances.) Whether you are looking for information about buying a home, balancing your checkbook, or investing in your 401(k) plan, the resources on www.mymoney.gov can help you.
The Ballpark Estimator at www.choosetosave.org/ballpark is another excellent online tool. It makes complicated issues, like projected Social Security benefits and earnings assumptions on savings, easy to understand.
If you have to choose between scrubbing down the house or scrubbing your budget to get your financial house in order, we recommend putting off the cleaning one more day. But don’t put off planning your future right now at www.socialsecurity.gov, and don’t arrive at retirement unprepared.
Kirk Larson wrote this article. He is a public affairs specialist for Social Security in western Washington.
Laughter, applause and a real sense of accomplishment is what every member of the new group of story tellers feels when they share their history. Every Tuesday afternoon at Franke Tobey Jones in Tacoma, they learn so much from and about each other that it has become a group of friends.
“In this group, I found I could muster up the confidence to get up and talk and enjoy it. It’s a great experience,†says Joan Bannister, a Franke Tobey Jones resident, who first came to the group because she heard the laughter and felt this was where she needed to be.
Recently I attended a memorial service of Randy, the husband of a good friend of mine. I didn’t know him well, but attended to support my friend who was going through a rough time. It was a fun memorial, if you can call a memorial “fun,†with a crazy Hawaiian shirt theme, wonderful Hawaiian food, great camaraderie, but most of all, stories. When I walked into the room, I didn’t know much about Randy, but when I left I felt like I’d known him all my life. The stories that loved ones shared about Randy warmed my heart, made me laugh, made me cry, and made me wish that I had the opportunity to know him when he was alive.
I left wishing I could tell stories like that. Stories are so powerful. Stories, when told from the heart, connect us in ways like nothing else. However, few people know how to tell a story well. They give too much back story, drone on for 20 or 30 minutes, list arbitrary details that mean nothing to you, and putter out at the end, leaving you wondering what the point was. It can leave you feeling confused and unfulfilled. Because you have a story to tell, it deserves to be told well. You need to practice. You need to become an expert at telling your own story.
“In a small room at Franke Tobey Jones, a sincere cadre of loyal speech givers (aka storytellers) gather to share their life experiences,†Robin Swenson comments, as she wouldn’t miss this Tuesday hour of fun. “It is just an hour a week, but the length and breadth of the tales told are vast. The topics are based on each person’s experience growing up, or working and traveling throughout this world we share. There is usually an invigorating or a poignant story told and then a lively and spontaneous round of ‘table topics’ which requires a quick response to a random topic. There’s usually lots of laughter and a genuine desire to know more. And no one speaker can covet the stage too long, since a timer keeps everyone in check.â€
According to writer Jeff Goins, you only think you know your story well. Telling it helps you make sense of your life — why certain events happened the way they did. You begin to examine what has happened to and through you. You begin to make sense of who you are. Telling your story can be incredibly therapeutic, and the practice often leads to greater confidence and understanding of self. Most people don’t take the time to do this. They take their stories for granted; they don’t steward them. Take the time to learn your story.
Do you have this desire to tell your story but just can’t quite put it into words? Maybe you’ve been asked to share some stories about your life at your favorite club, or at a memorial, or maybe your kids, grandkids or even great-grandkids have wanted to hear about your life. So many of us have lived full and interesting lives and have had such wonderful experiences. We want to be able to pass along these stories to our family and friends. Even if we don’t personally think our lives have been all that interesting to our family…they want to know all! The good, the bad, the ugly, the funny…it’s all worth telling.
Writer Robert Atkinson says, “There is power in storytelling that can transform our lives, and stories told from generation to generation carry this power in the enduring values and lessons about living life deeply, they pass on. Our own life stories can be tools for making us whole; they gather up the parts of us and put them together in a way that gives our lives greater meaning than they had before we told our story. The stories we tell of our own lives carry this transforming power too. Our stories illustrate our inherent connectedness with others. In the life story of each person is a reflection of another’s life story. In some mysterious, amazing way our stories and our lives are all tied together.â€
If you’re like many of us who really want to learn how to tell your story, visit a brand new Toastmasters Club, the Tobey Talkers, held at Franke Tobey Jones every Tuesday afternoon at 3:15. This is a great group of folks who love life, want to learn how to tell their story and have fun in the process. This one hour per week is a great way to practice.
“I’ve been in Toastmasters off and on for about 15 years,†says Abbie Watter, a Tobey Talker Toastmaster. “When we moved to the Pacific Northwest, one of the activities I hoped to find at Tobey Jones was a Toastmasters Club. Now that we’ve started one, I’m so pleased. The folks in the club range from experienced to complete newbies with many experiences to tell us about their lives before they came to live here. This is a wonderful way to spend an hour a week. I wouldn’t give it up for anything.â€
And another member, Ruth Daugherty, says, “Toastmasters is an opportunity to meet amazing people who tell fascinating stories. Most are true life experiences, but some are so creative they mesmerize me.â€
If you desire information about Tobey Talker Toastmasters, call Christine Hall at 253-756-6350.
Christine Hall, who wrote this article,
Members of the Tobey Talkers Toastmasters Club take turns telling stories and speaking at weekly meetings.
is the senior director of marketing and public relations at Franke Tobey Jones.
