Thurston & Mason County Community Services List

THURSTON COUNTY

MASON COUNTY

NEW!!! LERC Drive-Up Drop Off Box in Rainier

Got any old, used eyeglasses that you don't need anymore???  LERC cleans and reads the lens prescriptions and sends them out to needy people in third world countries.  You can drive up and drop off your old eyeglasses in our new donation box. George Johnson made and attached it to our sign that is located in the parking lot of Rainier Chapel.

THANK YOU, GEORGE!

A Little FAITH in Rainier....

Friday Night Bingo Hollering in Rainier 

The Rainier elementary boosters club sponsored the annual  family fun night”  BINGO” Friday evening, in the elementary gym. Over a hundred families and lovers of BINGO filled the gym to standing room only while hundreds of prizes were won by excited children and parents. School Booster Club members: Kelly & Richard Hill, Terri Rendahl, Dawn Kenney and Rainier City Councilperson Kristin Guizzetti, to name a few, joined the exciting BINGO calling by school superintendent Tim Garchow.

This has turned out to be a very entertaining community event filled with fun and excitement. If you needed a smile this was the place to be as number caller Garchow kept the gym filled with humor and anticipation. Winner after winner lined up at the prize table for over an hour and a half.

“Where can a family of four get a night out for $10” Garchow said when asked why it is such a successful night. Slice of pizza and a drink only $2.50 as well as water and cookies, for a small charge, to go along with two free bingo cards. The purpose was family fun and no one left disappointed. 

“Faith” in Rainier

 A Seahawks gift basket was auctioned off and with a little added by the boosters brought in $500, donated to the playground fund.  Ida and Faith Boesch (third grader Faith started this campaign) were given the microphone at intermission and updated to crowd on the drive underway to construct a larger play area for the grade school. The Boesch’s said there has been over $15,000 collected, so far, in a little over three months.  Almost halfway there to have a play area suitable for the school population and community.  It was added that if any area businesses, or caring people in our community, would like to be a part of this community endeavor -  they can send a donation to Rainier Elementary School P.O. Box 98, Rainier, WA 98576.  (Please add a note on the check or in a letter with the word “PLAYGROUND.”)

Rainier is a community that getting  things done by pulling together to make things happen. It’s really great to be a part of this community and see what small town Americans with determination can do. What seemingly was impossible looks to be happening with the drive of one third grader – Faith - and a community getting behind her. 

The Booster Club did a fabulous job and added that they can do more if more if they can get additional volunteers. It’s wonderful to watch dedicated individuals working together to better our school and community.  If you want to join the Rainier Booster Club, call Rainier Elementary School (360) 446-4020.

The playground at Rainier Elementary School is surrounded by three housing developments and is the main place that children play all year around.  The Nisqually Indian Tribe and Fairpoint Communications have donated to the playground extension.   Faith is still waiting to hear back about her requests from Ellen DeGeneres and the Seattle Seahawks.  We have Faith!

MEETING AGENDA 02-24-2014

MEAL 6:30-7 P.M.

7 P.M. MEETING

Pledge of Allegiance

Sing:  AMERICA

KL George:  PRAYER

“You may not have4 saved a lot of money in your life, but if you have saved a lot of heartaches for other folks, you are a pretty rich man.” 
― Seth Parker

“It wasn’t the reward that mattered or the recognition you might harvest.  It was your depth of commitment, your quality of service, the product of your devotion – these were the things that counted in life.  When you gave purely, the honor in giving, and that was honor enough.” 
― Captain Scott O’Grady

KL George Johnson:

Guests:  Autumn Kenny

1.  Cataract Surgery: 

2.  Rainier Community Garden

3.  City Council Meeting Tues. Night

• Crossing Flags
• Concession Stand

4.  Burger Den – Concession Stand / Roof / Canopy

5.  Scholarship Apps Received

6.  Recent Activities:

• Handrail in Senior Center
• Wheel Chair Ramp
• BINGO at RES
• Coffee with a Cop
• Valley Heart FREE Breakfast

7.  Club Officers

•  President  - Evan Burnett
• Vice President  - Bud Green
• Secretary - ?
• Treasurer - Dawn Kenny  
• Lion Tamer - Walt Dohring
• Tail Twister - Chris Beck
• Blogger - ?

8.   Family Fun Day

9.   White Cane Days

10. School REF Auction Donation?

11. Dinners: Cook, Potluck, cater

12.  LERC

13.  Rainier Lions Club Logo

14.  Tail Twister

INFORMATION:

Together:  1^st & 2^nd Wed 5 PM City Hall

Rainier Community Gardens 1^st Monday RHS

Senior Center Lunch:  Mon & Wed at noon - $2.50 each

City Council meets 2^nd & 4^th Tues at 7 PM

Rainier Community Cares – 1^st & 2^nd Wed. 5 PM @ 2^nd portable by RMS

Sportsman’s Club – 1^st Mon @ 7PM

City Council – 2^nd & 4^th Tues. @ 7 PM

Rainier Food Bank:  Wed & Sat 9 – 12 noon

Historical Soc. – 3^rd Thurs. @ 6:30 PM

Valley Heart Breakfast – LAST Sat 9 – 11 AM – Free – farm fresh sausage & eggs, fresh fruit, homemade biscuits - great food!

UPCOMING EVENTS

Feb 25:  City Council Meeting

Feb 27:  LERC 5:30 PM

Mar 15:  Eagle View Auction

Mar 22:  R.E.F. Auction

Support Our: Rainier Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts & Girl Scouts

Owen & Haachi

This film shows how incredible rescue dogs are.   Owen has Schwartz Jampel Syndrome.  His muscles are always constricted.  His dog, Haachi, is his best friend..........

Susan "Sue B" Badertscher

We lost a Great Lion on February 10th, 2014, from Lakewood First Lions Club.  

Sue's Memorial will be on March 15th in Steilacoom.   

This all we have at this time,  we will post more information as we receive it.

Changing Lives One Pair of Glasses at a Time

Pictured: Bernice Beck from the Rainier Lions working at a lensometer at Northwest LERC (Lions Eyeglass Recycling Center) in Olympia WA.

The Rainier, Yelm and Roy Lions donate time at the Northwest Lions Recycling Center located in Olympia. Club members volunteer their time at the center - sorting, washing and drying used eyeglasses. The eyeglasses then go a technician who reads the prescription using a lensometer. Then the technician packages and labels each pair of glasses.  Glasses are shipped to one of over 200 mission’s worldwide. Even broken and scratched glasses are recycled to help pay for the overhead of the center.  There are only 5 eyeglass recycling centers across the country.

Since 2004, the LERC center in Olympia has processed over 1,500,000 pairs of glasses and distributed over 150,000 pairs to missions in third world countries. Over 45,000 hours of time have been donated to the center in Olympia by, Lions, students and concerned citizens.

 Recycle your old eyeglasses, reading glasses as well as prescription glasses.  Check out those drawers and boxes on closets shelves and donate the gift of good sight. Eyeglasses can be donated to any Lion or look for donation boxes at local area businesses. Boxes are located at Safeway, Tim's Pharmacy, Jim Bob’s restaurant, and many other Yelm locations. In Rainier at Ginger Street, Senior Center, Thrift Store, Rainier Barber Shop and Rainier Emergency Food Center.

If you are interested in helping or would like to make a donation please contact a Lion or The Northwest Lions Recycling Center located at 9013 Mullen Rd S.E., Olympia, WA. 98513, or call 360-923-2075.

You can also get more information be visiting the web site at www.lionsnwlerc.org

Family BINGO Night!!!!

TIM GARCHOW is calling the BINGO numbers!!!!

Coffee with cops meets again in Rainier

Coffee with cops took place, in Rainier, for the second time this past Tuesday night.  It was standing room only at Sonja’s Restaurant, as concerned area citizens met with Thurston County Sheriff John Snaza, Under Sheriff Tim Braniff and Lieutenant Paul Counts.  Again, a one hour scheduled exchange of information session lasted over two hours. Superintendent of Schools, Tim Garchow, Councilman Denise McVey and Juliette Pia from Rainier community care were among the many that offered input into the conversations.

The two way exchange of information helped both citizens and deputies better understand the concerns and problem’s facing the Rainier community.  Deputy Counts commented on what a great job Garchow and Pia have been doing with our communities youth and that more citizen involvement in community activities will help strengthen the community and our youth.

Thurston county sheriff’s department has .5 deputies for every 1,000 citizens.  1 deputy per 1,000 would be a much better ratio and would help greatly with response times. We live in the 6th most populous county in the state.  Arrests have been made on area burglaries and has consequently caused the crime rate to drop in the Rainier area.

Suggestions were made that  more emphasis on “crime watch.” Citizen awareness and involvement, with good proactive preparation, help reduce crime. Keep an eye on neighbors’ homes, keep property visible from the street, better lighting, and surveillance cameras at area businesses - all help reduce burglaries. 

We need to call whenever we see illegal activities going on.  When calling 911 please clearly relate as much information as possible.  A good description of persons involved, license plate number and color of vehicle as well as the reason for the call.  The more information the better the help to the deputies in responding to any situation. 

The Sheriff was asked about his support of the second amendment.   He stated firmly that he supports all rights that the American Constitution bestows on us, including the right to bare arms.

In response to a question, it was pointed out that County Commissioner Sandra Romero holds monthly meetings in Yelm as well as Rainier where the community discusses current topics with local citizens.  It was asked if she could schedule an occasional evening meeting, so that more citizens might attend.

“Coffee with a Cop” seems to be working well in the community; bringing a much better understanding of how proactive involvement help everyone in preventing crime. I’m sure that we will hear much more about reestablishing a good community watch program city wide as more citizens become aware of the impact that they can have in preventing crime.

The next scheduled “coffee with cops'” will be on March 18th at 6 PM. Bring a friend and meet  some of Thurston Counties finest. 

Rainier: Small Town America in Action!

Rainier Comes Together

The Rainier Emergency Food Center serves over 200 families every week.  Lately it seems like it’s the busiest place in town, with people waiting in lines to do their weekly grocery shopping Wednesday and Saturday mornings from 9:30 AM – 12 Noon.  

Albert (bread lady - far left), Lois (U-Pick - red stripped shirt), 

Chris Fanton (Desserts - plaid shirt)

Even though the food is donated by local stores – Costco, Trader Joe’s, QFC and Safeway & Big Lots – to name a few, there are fixed costs that can only be met through donations.  

Many volunteers pick up donations using their own vehicles and gas. One volunteer has sold personal items to get money to pay for the gas for the Rainier Emergency Food Center van, as well as pay for its maintenance and repairs.  The gas for the van alone cost $750 in December. 

As you can see, we're short on:  U-Pick packaged foods

When citizens in Rainier found this out, they started working together:

•      Many people from Rainier Chapel, Valley Heart Church and the Rainier Lions Club volunteer their time to put out the food and serve people who come in to shop. 
•        Ana Vollman donated 7 cots, to be used by the public at the Rainier Emergency Food Center, in the event of an emergency or power outage. 
•       Sandy Sprouffske, of the Rainier Thrift Center, brought in dozens of coats and donated them to the food bank, so anyone who needs a coat can pick one off of the rack.  She’ll be bringing in business attire, so anyone who needs something to wear to a job interview can look for something that will meet their needs.
•    The volunteers at the Rainier Community Gardens grew and donated over 2400 pounds of fresh fruit and vegetables to the food bank in Rainier. 

      Times are tough, but did you realize that most Americans live better then King Henry the 8th?  He didn't have running water, indoor plumbing, toilet paper, central heating, antibiotics, or ice  cream.  Can you imagine a King's life without a telephone, television, computer or a vehicle?  These are just a few of the things that we take for granted, or use on a daily basis - that didn't  even exist during his lifetime.

Cheryl (Far Left - Gray sweatshirt)  

Grapefruit donated by  Rainier Lions Club

If you are in Rainier and need food, please feel free to stop in.  If you have more then you need - please look through your cupboards and closets donate the items you and your family don’t want to the Rainier Emergency Food Center or the Rainier Thrift Center.  

Together we can build a brighter future.   

Winning Peace Poster Contest for 2013-2014

Grand prize winner 2014 Peace Poster Contest: 

Tongbram Mahesh Singh (India) 

Sponsored by Moirang Lions Club

Finalist from India (Moirang Lions Club) - 2013-2014 Peace Poster Contest

Check out the other Peace Posters that were entered in the 2013-2014 Peace Poster Contest

Measure of Greatness

A Lion Never Loses Sleep..............