Archive for December, 2008
Vashon Island’s Cafe Luna: Great Rain and Jump Track for the Holidays!
Friday, December 26th, 7:30pm
Get Ready for….
The Original Folk Rock Insurgents
Saturday, December 27th, 7:30pm
Back and better than ever, this well-loved, acoustic duo is all about folk rock with an edge of rock. Their songs are written with a sort of passion and sense of purpose
while still maintaining warm folk traditions.
Saturday, December 27th, 7:30pm
Acoustic Rock Meets World Beat
If you love the idea of “acoustic meets world beat,” you’re going to love Jumptrack. Geoff Johns and Chuck vanNorman, make music that is as dynamic as it is rhythmically diverse. We’re talking steel and nylon string guitars, exotic sounds, catchy grooves, and instruments that include congas, bongos, West African djembes and tablas from India. Want a taste?
Vashon Island’s Red Bicycle Bistro: Long Lost Todd and Church of the Great Rain
The Red Bicycle Bistro presents:
12/26/2008 Starts at 09:00 PM
LONG LOST Todd Zinberg, Micheal Gotz and Keith Lowe bring some cool Jazz to the Red Bike!
|
So what the heck is The Church of Great Rain? Well, it’s not exactly a bunch of Lutherans from Minnesota. But it is a group of Vashon Island performers who aspire to be the pacific northwest’s answer to A Prairie Home Companion.
When Garrison Keillor opened A Prairie Home Companion at Janet Wallace Auditorium in Saint Paul on July 6, 1974 there were about 12 people in the audience. But those in attendance thought there were worse ways to spend a Saturday afternoon. The Church of Great Rain hopes you feel the same about how you’ll spend your Sunday evening on Vashon. And besides, when was the last time you were able to order a drink at church? And by harnessing the surgical smart-bombing precision and global reach of the Internet, The Church of Great Rain will launch a preemptive strike on dozens of listeners from around the world. Not since Sarah Palin’s Vice Presidential debate have expectations been so low for a broadcasted performance. The Church of Great Rain will be performing evening services at The Red Bicycle on the last Sunday of each month. The program will deliver a not-very-well-considered sermon, short stories, rumors and truth about islanders and island living, supported by original songs and a weird cast of island characters to raise everyone’s spirits for the week ahead. Count on it being loose, fun and very Vashon! FREE COVER! This event repeats on the fourth Sunday of every month until 01/31/2009
|
Vashon Island Real Estate: Urban Land Institute Rates Seattle #1
On the same day that the National Association of Realtors announced that November house sales had fallen over 8%, the trade group also released a report that supports the theory that Seattle’s housing market is a strong “microclimate” in the overall housing scene.
A survey by the Urban Land Institute of 700 private developers, REALTORS® and Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) executives concluded that Seattle scored highest when asked to name the best place to invest in commercial real estate in 2009. As readers of this column know, commercial real estate is an indicator for the rest of a regional real estate market. San Francisco, Washington, D.C., New York and Los Angeles followed in the survey.
“Seattle is going to be in a good position to come back,” says Stephen Black, senior resident fellow, finance, of the Urban Land Institute. The city’s diversified market, good base of business and move toward becoming a 24-hour city helped it attain the favorable ranking. The best cities in which to invest are those that are considered gateways to international investment, have vital downtowns where people can forgo cars, and don’t have a glut of condos or office space.
Survey answers “also apply to the residential market,” researchers believe, “since the single-family-home sector typically follows the economy. As wages go up and there are more jobs, more people can buy homes, pushing prices up.”
Vashon Island Real Estate: Are You Paying for Ineffective Marketing?
Many of our clients ask us why Go! Real Estate features internet marketing techniques rather than simply listing properties in newspapers as so many agents seem to do. After all, they say, real estate agents have purchased newspaper and magazine advertisements for years.
The answer is simple. The internet has changed the face of real estate marketing and home buyers no longer turn to newspaper and magazine advertising to search for a home. They turn to the internet. Go! Real Estate’sexpertise in real estate internet marketing is based on well-researched studies within the industry and by independent analysts which establishes that print marketing is a dying technique and that declining circulation (an industry average 5% per year) may spell the end for many newspapers.
In fact, in our home town of Vashon, one of the town’s two newspapers has reached a point of soliciting contributions from its readership in order to keep afloat. Apparently contributions have been light. Both newspapers on Vashon depend on real estate advertising to stay solvent, and the collapse of the housing market is not helping the bottom line.
In an extended column in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer on Friday, December 19, 2008, author Stephen Foley discussed the state of the newspaper industry in the context of the bankruptcy of the Tribune Group, owner of the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times among their publications. Foley concludes that more newspapers are soon to follow. Foley discusses the particular difficulties facing the New York Times and its crippling debt payments. Advertising revenues there are down 16%.
As Foley writes, the slow steady ebb of newspaper circulation has been compounded by the restriction in advertising dollars available to sustain print media. The demise of local papers and savage cost cutting at those that remain cannot help but decrease the quality and appeal of those survivors. 15,000 jobs have been lost from among the 1400 papers published during the past year. As evidenced by the Los Angeles Times, the response has been to turn newspapers into a more entertainment-oriented publication at the sacrifice of hard journalism. One wonders whether newspaper readers will tolerate the loss of true news reporting.
Foley cites the advent of web-only journalism. Clearly, the decline of print media will create many opportunities for new media outlets, as foreseen by ProPublica and the Voice of San Diego. As Morton Research, Inc., has correctly predicted, half the advertising lost during this recession will never return to print. The future of marketing in the housing industry lies with the internet. Morton predicts that newspapers will transform into websites.
If there is a bright side to the economic crisis we face, it is that tightening budgets will force a re-evaluation of every aspect of our economic system, and for purposes of this article, a discussion of how marketing dollars are best spent to sell a house and effectively reach a broad base of buyers. A critical analysis of real estate marketing reveals that a vast majority of buyers find their homes on line. Further, the expensive advertisements some agents place in newspapers appears to be a waste of money. However, the cost of that print advertising is passed on to their clients as part of the non-itemized commission that an agent charges.
The National Association of Realtors confirms the trends cited by Foley as they pertain to real estate marketing strategies. First, the NAR determined that the classified section of the newspaper is the LEAST READ section of the newspaper. Second, 85% of home buyers reported that they found the home they eventually purchased on the internet. Another 10% said they discovered their new home through realtor signs posted at the property. Only 5-6% of buyers said they found their home through newspapers and 1% said they found their purchase through real estate-related magazines. Clearly, your advertising dollar is most effectively spent on an internet marketing campaign.
Go! Real Estate employs an extensive array of internet marketing tools which reaches a huge audience through Go!’s search engine optimization expertise. That audience of potential home buyers exceeds local newspaper circulation by a huge factor and reaches national and international readers. Better yet, Go! has established its marketing system tools with an eye toward the economy of scale that the internet offers to marketing. Simply put, there are significant marketing cost savings realized by Go! which in turn are passed on to our clients in the form of a reduced commission for representation. So you, the home seller, get the best of both worlds . . . an immensely more effective marketing campaign for your property and a cost savings.
Think Green: Vashon Holiday Greetings
As temperatures plummet and our typically temperate shores are dusted in snow, it is that time of year to draw close, go within and really do some green thinking. What I mean to say is that to ‘think green’ is an ever-present opportunity to reflect upon, and thereby magnify, the riches that exist within you as well as the riches that surround you in the form of a warm house, a gift, a loved one or a loving intention. Yes… living green is as much an attitude or perspective as it is something you do.
We find ourselves confronting truly challenging economic conditions in the world which may cause you to alter the ways in which yo
u typically observe Christmas and New Year. Yet you have an opportunity to be still, breathe deeply and know that you have the ability to give your SELF the greatest gift of all this holiday; the gift of creating an abundant, grateful and gracious condition WITHIN regardless of those circumstances that exist outside of you daily. Think about the jewels of your life as precious ornaments to wear within. There is much to celebrate! It’s a matter of being responsible for creating a succulent, healthy, prosperious internal environment as well as the external environment we share.
Take a break from your work or worry. Grab something warm to battle the chill, look out to our perfectly clear, blue skies and see the snow-capped mountains in all directions. Connect to something bigger than yourself and know that, while it may often appear that adversity and uncertainty will not be resolved in the near term, you may exercise your freedom to choose what is, embrace it, and just be with it and your self. Know that you are NOT alone. We are in this together and together we will continue to think green until greener conditions appear in the tangible world.
Here’s a wonderful poem written by my friend Bob Mendoza that beautifully illustrates the warm wishes I send you and yours this holiday season…
“Regardless of what’s happened to you,
Regardless of what you’ve been given,
Regardless of who’s misheld you,
Regardless of what’s been ripped from you,
Here is something that is alive…..and will not die;
And if we can rest in the love of that certainty,
Then we can become breathtakingly generous………..
Because we have everything!
Even though we’ve been hurt,
Even though it’s been difficult,
Even though we’ve lost precious, lovely, beautiful things,
………Still we remember who WE ARE!
REMEMBER THAT YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD,
………and THAT can never be taken from you.
And if you can walk on the earth feeling the truth
that when your foot touches the soil……….
every gesture will be kind,
every gesture will be love,
……….because that is what you are!
You are Love—-with the Inextinguishible Flame!
So am I———So WE ARE!”
Vashon Island’s Cafe Luna: Greg Dember and Suzie Bradford
Friday, December 19th, 7:30 PM
Greg Dember
Indie Rock
Following up on “Planets Of Plenty” which he recorded with his defunct band CHIEFLY, Seattle’s Greg Dember, now presenting simply under his own name, has put out another record full of piano, strings, trumpets, rock-band, quirk, hauntingly honest vocals, romantic and spiritual questioning, and a lurking but ultimately triumphant sense of self-acceptance.
“I Don’t Know I Think I Fell From The Sky” is a musical statement that is both personal and universal in its scope, drawing on an indie-rock vocabulary with classic elements thrown in.
Top-notch drumming by James McAlister (Sufjan Stevens) adds both intricacy and power, as does the thorough involvement of producer/guitarist Matt Brown (Trespassers William). While a talented cast of supporting musicians, building on the core, creates a consistent sonic palette, the songs are shaped by quite a variety of styles: piano/guitar rock ballad, electronica, post-rock improvization, Wurlitzer-driven light-industrial pop, Ben-Foldsian piano punk and more.
“I Don’t Know I Think I Fell From The Sky” definitely rewards repeated listenin
Saturday, December 20th, 7:30 PM
Suzie Bradford
Alternative Pop
With a provocative voice and style, her earthiness is a little reminiscent of Lauro Nyro.
P.S. Are you receiving updates every week for Vashon Island Events? If not, click here to subscribe.
Vashon Island’s Blue Heron: Blues for Christmas
Carter Castle, Rick Winsor & John Browne
Friday, Dec 19, 8 pm
At: The Blue Heron
Tickets: $10 VAA members, students and seniors, $12 general
Former Islander and blues guitarist, Ricker Winsor will join Island musicians Carter Castle and John Browne for an all-blues reunion concert with a holiday flavor, 8 p.m., Friday, December 19, at Blue Heron Art Center. Each musician will play solo and they will also perform as a trio. The evening will also include a few blues-tinged holiday/solstice tunes.
In addition to the tradition of Mance Lipscomb, John Hurt, Robert Johnson, John Prine and other legendary blues players, Winsor, Browne and Castle will bring their own lifetimes of experience and expertise to the stage for this one-night only show. Each musician will play from his own repertoire solo in round-robin style and together. They also have some holiday tunes in mind for this PG-13 evening of blues.
Castle, who classifies himself more as a ‘folk-driven’ singer/songwriter, says his music definitely carries elements of blues. “Sometimes it’s about oppression and grief; other times it’s farcical. Blues was the foundation for so many other musical art forms to follow,” says Castle. “I like ‘roots’ music and blues is the ultimate roots music.”
“When I first heard John Browne play, I thought now there’s a guy who really knows how to play the blues. He’s the real thing; he and Ricker both are very expressive masters of the blues,” says Castle of his fellow players. “They are historians of this type of music and play a lot; they’re both true storytellers.
Winsor has played guitar since he was a teenager. In addition to his love of the blues, he also plays bossa nova and sings in Portuguese, Italian and French. He performs in venues near his home in Vermont and New Hampshire and has released four wonderful CD’s that belong in the collection of anyone who loves the blues. Read more at rickerwinsor.com.
Seattle native and Vashon resident for 25 years, John Browne has played guitar since his teens and picked up the harmonica in the mid-1960’s. He lived in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district in 1966-67, and played with a jug band called pH Factor. The group’s first paid gig was held at the Matrix where they opened for famous country blues guitarist, Lightnin’ Hopkins.
Experiencing the psychedelic moment, they toured with Big Brother and the Holding Company and opened for The Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger, the Byrds, Mothers of Invention, Lenny Bruce and Jefferson Airplane. Their band, pH Factor, according to Browne, played 20’s and 30’s street music, a combination of jazz, blues and social protest songs. “It was culturally relevant and a lot of fun,” he says. Browne says they recorded an album, but before it was released, the record company was sold along with all its media property. A decade later, the album was released in England and coined as ‘an example of the San Francisco sound in the 1960’s.’ Browne has one of the few copies.
For the upcoming show, he plans to play some of the Memphis Jug Band tunes, some Gus Cannon and some original music. “I’ve written enough music to fill an evening myself,” he says. His guitar, harmonica and seasoned blues voice brings authority and generosity of spirit to every tune. Browne is a Vashon classic and rarely plays publicly these days. But he has been working on a CD and may have one available for this performance.
Don’t miss this concert and stick around for eggnog after the show!
P.S. Are you receiving updates every week for Vashon Island Events? If not, click here to subscribe.
Vashon Island’s Red Bicycle Bistro: 2ME, Sister Monk and The Spotlights
12/19/2008 – Starts at 09:30 PM – 21+ FREE COVER!
With a circus of musicians sitting in with them in different parts of the country on mandolin, horns, keys, kazoos, washboards, and harps, you never know exactly what you’re going to get from 2Me when they roll through, but one thing is always the same: it’ll put a smile on your face and a wiggle in your hips, and there’s a really good chance they will want to do a shot of Jack with you in between sets. If you missed their incredible performance when they opened for Picoso in September, now’s your chance to see them again! http://www.myspace.com/2me
“Earthy, compulsively listenable, and just jam-bandish enough, 2ME’s Schizophrenic Love Songs, makes merry, Joe-college-friendly folk ’n’ roll with unselfconscious abandon. We’re not selling miracles here, but what if these dudes actually manage to broker some kind of common ground between hipsters and heshers?” -Sacramento News & Review 12/28/06
12/20/2008 – Starts at 09:30 PM – 21+ after 9pm – FREE COVER!
12/21/2008 – Starts at 07:00 PM – 7-9pm. All Ages! FREE COVER!
Since the birth of SisterMonk in 1999 Kathleen Deane’s sultry, soulful vocals and djembe-drumming prowess have alchemically combined with Jody Rubel’s rhythm guitar. Raised by Irish immigrant parents in NYC, Kathy’s first musical influence was traditional Irish folk songs. She has taken voice training with Erene Mastrangelli (NYC) and Cathleen Wilder (Seattle). Mostly a self-taught percussionist, Kathy has briefly studied with Senegalese Master Drummer Thione Diop, Pepe Danza and Gordy Ryan.
After studying cultural anthropology, guitarist Jody Rubel was inspired to initiate his own progressive, cultural experiment through songwriting and performance. Jody draws musical and lyrical inspiration from Peter Gabriel, Jorge Ben Jor and the music of Bahia Brazil, William Blake, yoga, dialectics and world religion.
Joining the songwriting duo is Scott Den Adel on lead guitar. Born and raised in Seattle, Scott started playing guitar at aged 9 and early influences included Scotty Moore, Chet Atkins, Elvis, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Waylon Jennings, Jessi Coulter, Townes Van Zandt and Jimi Page. He graduated from Musician’s Institute in 1991 and studied with Scott Henderson, Ron Benson and Ron Eschete. Later influences include Merle Travis, James Burton, John McGlaughlin, Robin Ford, Larry Coryell, Lenni Breau, and Pet Metheny.
SisterMonk has shared the stage with such notable acts as Zap Mama, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Anoushka Shankar, Karl Denson Trio, On the One, Delta Nove and more. They have appeared at a variety of prominent venues on both east and west coasts. East coast venues include The Knitting Factory, LeBarBat’s, SUNY New Paltz (opened for Michael Franti & Spearhead), Tower Records and Border Books. Pacific Northwest venues include the NW Folklife Festival, Seattle Hempfest, Rolling Thunder Democracy Tour (opened for Zap Mama), Nectar, Jazzbones, Evergreen St. College, Bastyr U., Humboldt State U., and numerous other clubs and venues in the area. They have been featured on radio shows such as “The Beat” with Dave Beck – KUOW 94.9FM (NPR), KBCS’s “Roots and Branches” segment, KSER 90.7FM’s “The Sunlit Room” and KISM 92.9FM’s “Locals Only” segment.
12/21/2008 – Starts at 07:00 PM - 9:00 pm. All Ages! FREE COVER!
Ask Kyle: Vashon Island’s Real Estate Financial Guru – Timing the Market
Timing the market…
I’ve been encountering many potential buyers waiting for the bottom of the market. You will almost never be able to perfectly time the bottom of a market cycle. Trying to time the market can often be costly. It causes a buyer to miss out on the opportunity to purchase the right property at the right price.
In our current market there are a lot of factors working in favor of buyers. There are currently some great deals on homes. You’re better off negotiating the best purchase price and locking in a low rate and enjoy the benefits of homeownership. We’re near all time lows with fixed rates as low as 4.875%… It’s a great time to be a buyer! Call
for your free no obligation consultation….
P.S. Are you receiving updates every week for Vashon Island Events? If not, click here to subscribe.
Vashon Island Housing Market Forecast: The Well-Informed Consumer
I recently attended a two-day seminar on Real Estate Law offered by the Pennsylvania Bar Institute in Philadelphia. Among the presentations on Commercial and Domestic Mortgage Foreclosures, Defending a Residential Foreclosure Action, Sheriff’s Sales, Tips on Landlord / Tenant Evictions, and other sobering topics, was an outstanding presentation by Dr. Susan Wachter, Professor of Real Estate and Finance at the Wharton School of Business, Dr. Jesse Abraham, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, and Professor Adam Leviton, a specialist in bankruptcy and commercial law at the Georgeton School of Law, called “Why Here, Why Now, and What Next?”
The speakers presented a concise overview of the financial causes of the crisis in the housing market and, more significantly, offered an outstanding analysis and forecast for the market recovery. The presentation was sobering but instructive and relevant to home sellers and buyers and worthy of consideration.
My intent here is to summarize the presentation and to invite readers to contact me via this blog to develop a more detailed discussion of the issues touched upon here.
It is important to underscore that the economic circumstances that coalesced to form the recent boom and bust in the housing market are NOT historically unique and are manifestations of normal housing market behavior. The difficulty is that while housing price increases through 2003 were justified by fundamental economic principles, price rises AFTER 2003 were not. Post-2003, in a nutshell, as the popular press has reported, investment packages created on Wall Street artificially sliced apart the degrees of risk associated with unregulated mortgage lending (“tranching”) and severed the relationship between the actual property securing the mortgage from the investment instruments.
The federal government is now involved with spending hundreds of billions of tax dollars to guarantee the investments of major financial institutions into these bogus packages. The effectiveness of the Fed’s strategy will play out over time. What, if any, regulatory response to govern mortgage investment practices might arise also remains to be seen.
Today’s home sellers and buyers are more immediately interested in the prognosis for market recovery. The historical occurrence of housing market boom and bust cycles offer guidance on this issue.
The housing market is a function of factors that influence supply and demand. Among these factors are the formation of new households (in turn a function of demographics and population fluctuations), the demand for second homes, and the replacement of deteriorated or obsolete structures. New households command 70% of the demand.
Complexities increase as one looks at local markets, where such factors as migration patterns, employment opportunities and wage trends, demand for vacation properties, etc. influence analysis.
Of particular note is the function of immigration on the housing market. The last decade witnessed 400,000 new potential home buyers each year entering the country, leading to a recent surge in demand for homes and influencing an increase in sales prices. The national homeowner rate increased steadily from 1995 until 2005, well into the period after 2003 when high risk mortgages began to proliferate.
The bottom line is that house prices after 2003 were unjustifiably sustained by consumer confidence in the fiction of high risk mortgage practices.
Historically, housing market booms and busts occur within two-and-a-half to five year cycles. The speakers at the PBI seminar suggested that an additional five years will be required to stabilize the market in order to reach former price levels. This time period is necessary to clear out the existing glut of housing inventory and stabilize the market, topics which have been discussed in other postings to this site. This projection will be influenced by myriad factors including uncertainty in the Federal bailout programs and consumer confidence.
All this means that sellers and buyers in today’s market should be aware of the factors in play as they set their sales price or purchasing budget. For a seller, simply holding fast to a price established by the artifical market post-2003 is generally ineffective in enticing buyers. For a buyer, an awareness of historical trends should help to determine the appropriate financial circumstances under which to pull the trigger and finance a purchase.
The good news is the historically the housing market has always recovered and if a seller or buyer can weather the current disruption with intelligent analysis of the economic fundamentals involved, then smart market decisions can be reached. Informed consumers on both sides of a house sale transaction will help to stabilize the market immensely.
As always, Iwelcome feedback on this column. Happy Holidays!
P.S. Are you receiving updates every week for Vashon Island Events? If not, click here to subscribe.
Vashon Island First Time Home Buyers: A Golden Opportunity If You Are Well-Informed
The confluence of low mortgage rates, an over-abundent inventory of homes listed for sale, and a growing interest on the part of lenders to write new mortgages has created a golden opportunity for first-time homeowners. In fact, the Seattle Times recently called thi8s the “buying opportunity of a lifetime,” while acknowledging the the actual bottom of the market will not be identifiable except at some point through future hindsight.
However, the imminent availability of a 4.5 % 30-year fixed rate mortgage should be a sweet incentive to home buyers and result in a surge of new mortgage applications. In fact, it is not unreasonable to think that a glut of applications may cause the proverbial Johnny-Come-Lately to arrive late to the queue and suffer missing the prime period for the availability of this mortgage rate. One thing is certain, the rate will not be permanent as the federal government decides when to cease carrying the risk on guaranteeing these loans.
First-time homebuyers have their traditional advantage in negotiating prices with sellers, their purchase offer is not contingent on selling another property. These homebuyers should expect to be courted by sellers offering an array of sweeteners to a deal.
The first-time buyers needs to remain practical in this giddy environment. One study, “The Changing Prospects for Building Home Equity,” predicts that buyers in 33 og the 100 major real estate markets may see a decline in their home value by 2012, in areas including New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle. However, the well-informed consumer will realize that these predicitions are regional and not local. Accordingly, buyers should take the time to research the specific neighborhoods that they are interested in for purposes of investment potential.
The practical first-time buyer also needs to be absolutely realistic about what they can afford, in the face of more readily available mortgages. The rule-of thumb is that no more than 28% of pre-tax income should be budgeted for mortgage payments. While the high-flying practices of the mortgage industry has ignored this rule for a number of years, buyers should exercise their own discipline with their budget.
Further, the well-informed home buyer should consider mitigating risks in the face of todays turbulent employment market. Prudent consideration of jobh security today may prevent a lifetime of adverse consequences associated with making a bad mortgage decision.
Finally, a first-time buyer should interview a number of buyers’ agents to see that they are receiving the expertise and service they need to make a sound purchase decision. Believe it or not, not all agents are a good fit for your unique needs . . . and not all are willing to put off a quick commission when a buyer may be leaping without looking. A buyer needs someone to watch their backs when they are enthusiastically measuring for curtains in their “dream house.”
P.S. Are you receiving updates every week for Vashon Island Events? If not, click here to subscribe.
Vashon Island Community Services: Resources for Tough Times
The Vashon Maury Community Food Bank is open for distribution each Wednesday from 11am to 1pm and again in the evening from 5pm to 7pm. All island residents, and those who work on the island are welcome.
Need health insurance? Interested in Food Stamps? Apply for Basic Health and Basic Food Coverage (Food Stamps) at the Food Bank
Volunteers are available every Wednesday during distribution (11am-1pm and 5-7pm) to answer questions and to guide you through the application process for Basic Health, the low cost insurance offered by the State of Washington, as well as Basic Food, (also known as Food Stamps.) Call the food bank at 463-6332, or come in to sign up for an appointment during regular distribution hours.
The Food Bank will be closed on December 24th, and December 31st. The Food Bank will be open for distribution on Tuesday December 23rd, and Tuesday December 30th. The donation shed, located in front of the food bank, is open 24 hours a day.
Volunteers needed.
Need emergency food? Call 463-3662. Home delivery available
Vashon Maury Community Food Bank 10030 SW 210th Street Building #4 Vashon Island 206 463-6332 PO Box 1205 Vashon, WA 98070
Vashon Island Interfaith Council of Homelessness The Interfaith Council on Homelessness voted last month to offer two community dinners per week, Tuesdays and Thursdays, at the Vashon Presbyterian Church. The Council has determined to offer meals, which provide hot food for those in need and offer hospitality and a chance for volunteers to make contact with the homeless and find out other needs each individual may have. The Interfaith Council on Homelessness works with St. Vincent de Paul, the Vashon Maury Community Food Bank, Vashon Youth & Family Services and other groups. The group, funded solely by private donations, is made up of volunteers from Vashon’s churches as well as those not affiliated with a church who want to help those in need. The meals will take place from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday nights at the Presbyterian Church. The first community dinner will be held Tuesday, Oct. 21, Anyone is welcome. To volunteer or make a donation, contact the Interfaith Council on Homelessness at P.O. Box 330, Vashon, 98070. Schedule of Vashon Island Meals for the Homeless Mon 6-7 Village Green Shelter Tues 5:30 – 7:30 Presbyterian Church ( 206) 463-2010, 17708 Vashon Hwy SW Wednesday 5:30 – 6:30 Episcopal Church, 15420 Vashon Hwy SW, Vashon, WA 98070, (206) 567-4488 Thursday 5:30 – 7:30 Presbyterian Church Vashon Youth and Family Services Mailing Address: • Classes for adults, youth, and families: anger management, childcare, child development, and much more • Prevention services offer a variety of fun and educational opportunities, including Resources for Teens, A list of Vashon Island Daycares, Alternative, Private, and Public Schools • Vashon Healthy Community Network strengthening Vashon families, acting to reduce youth substance abuse, domestic violence, child abuse and neglect, and school drop out rates. • JobFind for unemployed and underemployed adults • VIVA, providing Island residents in financial crisis with support and referral to appropriate resources Some services are fee-based and offered on a sliding scale, fully covered by Medicaid (med coupons) or partially covered by insurance; others are free or may require participants to meet certain income guidelines. For clients seeking counseling services, with advance notice, interpreters can be provided for sign language, hearing impairment, or non-English speaking clients. Vashon Youth & Family Services is a United Way of King County agency. Funding for many of our programs comes from private donations, United Way of King County and designated donations, private foundations, and King County. In this section of the site, you will find more detailed information about our programs as well as event and calendar listings. Surf our site, check things out, and let us know what you think!!
is a loose-knit network of individuals acting in response to the economic crisis and its impact on our community. We exist to: What you can do today: · Read landmark books that may change the way you think about your food and shopping choices. (link to reading list page) What you can do soon: · Participate in our upcoming series of community forums planned for early 2009 — check back here for more information. Please give directly to the groups mentioned here. We are not a fundraising organization. Vision for Vashon has no budget and no overhead, and uses communications resources generously donated by others. You can contact us through the Google Group or by emailing visionforvashon@gmail.com P.S. Are you receiving updates every week for Vashon Island Events? If not, click here to subscribe.
Email foodbank@vashonisland.net
Vashon, WA 98070
The VYFS mission is to help Islanders raise thriving, resilient children and youth by fostering a community of emotionally healthy, resourceful families and individuals. To further their mission and provide broad support to the Vashon Island Community, VYFS offers a wide variety of services in the areas of Counseling, Prevention, and Social Services.
Vashon Youth & Family Services
PO Box 237
Vashon, WA 98070
Some groups, classes and counseling do happen during weekend and evening hours.
• Therapeutic groups
• Social skill-building groups for children and youth
Partnership with VIPIT,
Vashon Island’s Back Bay Inn Presents A Cowboy Country Christmas
Vashon Island’s Back Bay Inn presents Riverbend on Friday, December 19, from 6-9 pm for a Cowboy Country Christmas.
Vashon Island’s Café Luna: Holly Phillips and Tom Rawson
Vashon Island’s Café Luna presents two nights of music this weekend. On Friday, December 12, singer-songwriter Holly Phillips performs a free show from 7:30 until 10:00 pm.
Holly Phillips has resided in Washington for the last 9 years. Playing casually here and there at the “Folklife Festival” in 98’, Canada’s GreenPeace Benefit Concert at the “Commodore Ballroom”, in 2003. She appeared on the Seattle Show, “Gimme the Mike” and records her own music at home.
Holly had professional vocal training from Shelly Franklin from 13-16 years old in Campbell, CA at, “Showcase Music Institute”. There she also began to learn the basics of recording and was asked to sing on demos of other musicians. Holly was also in Bay Area’s World Beat band, “African Rain”, fronted by Bob Culbertson and Grammy Award winner, Babatunde Olatunji. She performed at such places as, “The Fillmore West” (opening band for “Zap Mama”), “The Catalyst”, “The Great American Music Hall”, “The Palace of the Fine Arts”, and performed with Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead. Holly was in “African Rain” for 5 years and while still in High School recorded her first album with Babatunde Olatunji in 1992. In 1996 Holly Studied with Babatunde in New York and opened for Drums of Passion in Manhattan at the “Sounds Of Brazil”.
Currently Holly is working on releasing her 2nd solo album with songs she’s been writing for the last 10 years. With a fresh new outlook on life, Holly feels that she can only pursue what is true to her heart and to do otherwise, would be impossible.
On Saturday, December 13, Vashon’s Café Luna presents Tom Rawson, Folk Singer of User Friendly Songs at 7:30 pm. You will love his take on the world of folk music. Some songs will be familiar and some will surprise you wonderfully.
“Tom Rawson-Pete Seeger. These two run together in my mind. Friendly charismatic banjo playing lovers of folk music. A full smiling voice who loves to share his musical treasures with an ‘I know something you don’t know and you’re gonna love it too’ kind of smile. More of a sharing than a show. . . We gladly follow his lead and sing with the chorus from the very first song, every song a sing along. . . First timer or old fan, old song or new, it always seems we are singing our favorites with an old friend. A past brimming with hope for a gentler future. . . Tom is showing us we may be strangers, but we are a family. A family of song.”
–Steve Durfee, Victory Review, May 1993
“Enter Tom Rawson. Witty, energetic, and armed with banjo, lap dulcimer, and guitar, he takes the stage to warm applause from the crowd who has turned out to see him. Tom and this audience are made for each other. They know lots of songs and heck, they’ll sing along even when you don’t ask them to. I’ve seen some performers taken aback by this. Not Tom. His grin broadens as the harmonies swell. He teases them, singing one called “This is NOT a sing along!” You got it: they sing along anyway, getting louder and fuller as Tom more stridently insists that this is NOT a sing along! ”
– Hank Cramer, Victory Review – March 2002
P.S. Are you receiving updates every week for Vashon Island Events? If not, click here to subscribe.
Vashon Island’s Red Bicycle Bistro: Clinton Fearon and the Boogie Brown Band – House Engine
If you know reggae music, you know Clinton “Basie” Fearon. For over 18 years Fearon was a singer and bass player with the internationally renowned group The Gladiators. Fearon’s first two releases with the group were (singles) “Freedom Train” and “Rockaman Soul” on Lloyd Daley’s Matador label, both of which reached the Top 10 on the Jamaican charts. Jamaica’s top producer, Coxsone Dodd of Studio One, produced “The Gladiators” a full length album featuring Fearon as songwriter and vocalist on several songs including Step Right Back.
In 1974 The Gladiators went to Joe Gibbs’ studio to record “Proverbial Reggae”; Fearon wrote many of the songs on this album and the producer Prince Tony Robinson insisted that Fearon sing the lead vocals including “Can You Imagine How I Feel”, “Stop Before You Go”, and “Marvel Not”. In addition to his demanding recording schedule with The Gladiators, Fearon was also a house musician for Lee “Scratch” Perry’s Black Ark Studio. Fearon recorded on many of Perry’s best known songs, including “Roast Fish and Cornbread,” which features one of Fearon’s most famous bass lines. When Fearon relocated to Seattle in 1989 he co-founded The Defenders. He wrote the lyrics and sang lead vocals on The Defenders’ EP “Chant Down Babylon/Rock YourBones.”
In 1990 Fearon released his first compilation of original tunes “Feel The Spirit,”and the first pressing sold out in less than one month. In 1993 Fearon formed his own group, the Boogie Brown Band. The debut album was a collection of 13 original songs entitled “Disturb the Devil”. A second CD, “Mystic Whisper” was released in early 1997. Fearon and the Boogie Brown Band released their third album, a double CD entitled “What a System” in June of 1999 on the Kool Yu Foot label. Mixed by renowned JA engineer, Scientist, “What A System” has received international critical acclaim and has secured and maintained Top Charting positions since then.
Clinton Fearon is counted among Jamaica’s most talented musicians by peers and professionals in the Reggae music industry. His infectious bass riffs have always led the way, whether he is playing bass, guitar or percussion, singing lead vocals or providing background harmonies. If you missed his show at the Red Bicycle Bistro & Sushi last August…now’s your chance to see him live & in person on Vashon Island. What a treat it is to have this band come to us. Clinton Fearon sold out both times he performed at the Bike, so it is highly recommended that you call in advance and purchase your tickets.
Opening for Fearon will be Jacob Bain and Mike Marlatt of Trolls Cottage doing a sweet set of acoustic TC songs.
To Reserve Your Tickets Call the Red Bicycle between 11am and 6pm at 206-463-5959. Please have your credit card information ready
Vashon Island’s Red Bicycle Bistro presents House Engine
12/14/2008 – Starts at 07:00 PM – All ages. FREE COVER!
House Engine’s goal is to provide the excuse to shake it. This is a new band with lots of experience, full of history, and everyone brings a little something to the plate. The music is primarily blues, but varies with a little rock, alternative country, originals, Motown , funk, and a little Shout styles thrown in. Vashon has an incredible array of musicians and this band contributes.
P.S. Are you receiving updates every week for Vashon Island Events? If not, click here to subscribe.
Letter from Vashon Island: Doug Sutherland and Glacier Northwest Mining Insults Puget Sound
The tragic sell-out by outgoing-Public Lands Commissioner Doug Sutherland to sign off on Glacier Mining’s lease to install a dock and pierhead for mining operations is stunning in its audacity and cynicism. Shame on you, Commissioner Sutherland, and may your legacy resound as a battle cry for people who actually care about the environment and our children’s future. Kinky Friedman coined the phrase, “Taking a Nixon.” Dan Savage coined a similar phrase for Rick Santorum, and now I am proposing the name Sutherland for unconscionable acts of environmental disregard by a public official who should know better.
Sutherland’s self-serving letter to this week’s edition of the Beachcomber attempts to pawn off his personal role in this sad affair to other governmental entities, reminding me of childhood’s “everyone else was doing it” excuse. What a shining example of personal integrity from an elected official.
And did all the officials in those other government agencies accept a $50,000 campaign contribution from your “good friends” at Glacier?
Why am I not surprised that your “explanation” fails to mention the recent death of SEVEN Orcas and the existing ecological stress on the whales’ food system.
Hey Doug, what part of the federal chinook recovery plan that stated the Maury Island near-shore “cannot be overestimated in its value toward the recovery of endangered Chinook” and that this area should be protected from development at every level of government oversight DID YOU NOT UNDERSTAND?
This writer attended the flotilla rally organized by the Backbone Campaign, and attended by the People for Puget Sound and Preserve Our Islands, held at the edge of Galcier’s Sandy Shores site and was heartened by the number of attendees who braved the cold and dark early hour to express their outrage with Sutherland and Glacier. The Beachcomber, sadly, underreported the number of our neighbors and friends who attended and who will form the revitalized nucleus for opposition to Glacier for as long as it takes to realize a new environmental ethic.
This writer wonders whether the presence of off-Island security guards at every corner of Glacier’s operation will cause Islanders to pause and consider whether something is fundamentally wrong with this scenario, that it is so illogical and wrongheaded as to require a private militia to protect corporate interests. How can Sutherland defend a public policy decision that requires a militia to defend it from the people he was elected to serve?
Thanks, Doug, for the new entry in my lexicon: Sutherland: verb, for a politician to sell out the environment and people and run away at the end of his mercifully short term.
Chip Lamason – 12/12/08
P.S. Are you receiving updates every week for Vashon Island Events? If not, click here to subscribe.
Vashon Island’s Blue Heron Theater: Vashon Island Youth Chorus
More than a dozen Island children, aged 5-12, will take the Blue Heron stage this weekend to sing a tribute to the songs of the silver screen. The performance is at 7 p, on Saturday, December 13 and at 4: pm on Sunday, December 14. Songs by such legends as Mae West and Katharine Hepburn will help fill the bill. The group is accompanied on piano by Justin Cornier. The second half of the show will feature songs of the season, with a sing-along finale. Tickets are $7 for VAA members and $9 for the general public. Pre-schoolers are admitted for free.
P.S. Are you receiving updates every week for Vashon Island Events? If not, click here to subscribe.
Ask Kyle: Vashon Island Home Finance – Locking versus Floating
I’ve been receiving questions on whether I suggest locking in or floating interest rates. We’re currently in a lending environment where rates are changing two or three times a day. With such volatility and rates as low as they currently are, it is a great time to be locking in. Nobody can consistently predict short term interest rate movement, and the risk is not worth the reward.
I’m advising my clients to lock their loans as there is a lot of comfort knowing that their interest rate is secured. A slight price improvement isn’t worth the risk of having rates move the opposite direction. Loans are taking longer to process and close due to tighter guidelines and higher loan volume. A standard lock period is 25-30 days depending on the lender. It may make sense to request a 45 to 60 day lock; this will give your lender a realistic time frame to successfully close your loan.
Give me a call to see how you can take advantage of these low interest rates. It’s a great time to be securing a fixed loan at near all time low rates.
Fax: 480.287.8704
P.S. Are you receiving updates every week for Vashon Island Events? If not, click here to subscribe.
Vashon Island Pet Yoga
Vashon Yoga Goes to the Dogs: Yoga Instruction for Owners and Pets
Vashon’s Smiling Yoga presents yoga instruction for Vashon owners, pets and other sentient beings at Vashon’s Ober Park near the Vashon Park District Building on Sunday, December 14. From 1 to 2:15 pm, a class in vigorous yoga will be presented followed from 2:15 to 3:15 by a class in restorative yoga. Exercise mats will be provided.
P.S. Are you receiving updates every week for Vashon Island Events? If not, click here to subscribe.
Vashon Island’s Night Life for Teens: Vashon Island Library Program
LateNight @ The Library will meet from 6 to 10 pm on Saturday, December 13 at the Vashon Library. Teens from grades 6 – 12 can work out to Dance Revolution and Guitar Hero open play., have their palms read in the Roma tradition, participate in the Vashon Library Cyber Café, surf the web or play a game. Security will be provided for the event. For more information call the library at 463-2069.
P.S. Are you receiving updates every week for Vashon Island Events? If not, click here to subscribe.
