Open house set at Shipley Center

The Shipley Center, 921 E. Hammond St., invites the community to its 13th-annual open house, set for 1-3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 26.

September is National Senior Center Month, and this year’s open house theme is “Senior Centers — Explore Yours!” The free Sequim event will feature door prizes, refreshments, tours of the building and entertainment.

All community members are welcome to attend and bring friends and neighbors. Local dignitaries and Shipley board members and staff will be introduced at 2 p.m.

For more information, call 360-683-6806.

Grange sets table for breakfast

A Sequim Prairie Grange Pancake Breakfast is set for a 7:30 a.m. start on Sunday, Oct. 1, when Grange members start flipping pancakes and will continue until noon. The menu includes all-you-can-eat pancakes, plus an egg, a slice of ham, coffee and orange juice. Each additional egg or slice of ham is $0.50.

Cost is $8 for adults and $4 for children 10 years and younger.

The grange is at 290 Macleay Road.

Auditor’s office to close for one day

The Clallam County Auditor’s Office will close to the public for one day, on Oct. 2, while employees relocate to a temporary office location during an office remodel, county officials announced.

Employees will remain at the temporary location, in the old county courthouse, for approximately one month while the project is being completed.

To visit the new Licensing and Recording Divisions in their temporary location, use the main entrance of the Courthouse and follow the left hallway down to the old courthouse; the temporary office is the first door on the right.

AARP Tax-Aide seeking volunteers

Are you good with forms and instructions, have strong basic computer skills and enjoy helping people? Consider becoming an IRS-certified Tax-Aide volunteer. Volunteers of all ages and backgrounds are encouraged to join a local crew of dedicated Tax-Aide volunteers.

The Tax-Aide program is sponsored by AARP and the IRS.

Volunteers don’t need to be an AARP member to help out, or to receive free tax preparation services from AARP Tax-Aide. All supplies and both on-line and in-person training are provided to prepare you for success as a Tax-Aide preparer.

All new volunteers must sign up by Thanksgiving, in order to become IRS-certified in time for the upcoming tax season. Continuing Education Credits are available.

To volunteer, go to aarp.org/taxaide to complete an online application by clicking on the “Volunteer Now” button.

For more information, contact Russ Fish, District 3 AARP Tax-Aide communications coordinator, at 360-452-6147 (voice mail only).

Sponsors sought for Sunshine Festival

Sponsorship opportunities are available for the fifth-annual Sequim Sunshine Festival scheduled for March 1-2, 2024. There are several levels of sponsorship available, including the Rays of Sunshine level at $100. Visit visitsunnysequim.com for the sponsorship brochure and application.

Highlights of the festival include the Sun Fun Color Run, the Illuminated Drone Show, the Sunshine Market, the Interactive Light Experience, community art projects, live music and food. The festival is designed to attract local participants and visitors.

For more information, contact Communications and Marketing Director Barbara Hanna at 360 681-3422 or bhanna@sequimwa.gov or Marketing Coordinator Patsene Dashiell at 360-681-3421 or pdashiell@sequimwa.gov with questions.

ONP, ONF rescind campfire restrictions

Because of favorable weather conditions and seasonal changes, Olympic National Park and Olympic National Forest are rescinding temporary fire restrictions, officials unannounced on Sept. 15.

Campfires are now allowed in accordance with standard rules and regulations. Regulations include:

Fires should only be built within established rings, stoves, grills or fireplaces; campfires and wood-burning camp stoves are only allowed below 3,500 feet elevation; and, on ocean beaches, fires may not be kindled closer than 10 feet to the nearest beach logs; those fires may not exceed 3 feet in diameter.

Additional campfire and wildfire safety information can be found at smokeybear.com.

For more information, call the Olympic National Forest Supervisor’s Office at 360-956-2402 or the Olympic National Park at 360-565-3130.

Community Ed classes set at PC

Do you want to learn a new craft or develop your job skills? Peninsula College Community Education classes offer something for everyone.

Fall classes start early October, with in-person and online options available. Arts and crafts classes include quilting, ceramics, beading, illustration, felting, welding, and drawing. Learn a new language or write a screenplay. Create a podcast, take a class in film appreciation, or play classical guitar. Preserve the harvest in workshops on pickling, kraut making, pressure canning, and more. Develop a career by earning a certificate in project management; teachers may be interested in the program’s clock hour classes.

See the fall catalog at tinyurl.com/Fall2023CE. Register for classes at pencol.edu/CE or call 360-417-5683.

‘Tools for Caregivers’ available at class

The six-week “Powerful Tools for Caregivers” class is coming to Port Angeles on Oct. 2. Sponsored by and hosted at the Port Angeles Senior Center, 328 E. Seventh St., this is a class that cares for the caregivers, designed to help them develop skills to communicate better and to reduce the stress and fatigue that caring for another can cause.

The class meets on Mondays for six weeks from 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Class leaders are Jean McDonald and Lorrie Aillaud. Organizers say they seek to help others feel better about caring for themselves while caring for others. The class is free. Participants can buy a workbook that follows the program.

For more information or to RSVP, call McDonald at 360-789-7691 or Aillaud at 360-460-9907.

Natural landscaping course offered

Registration is open for the Jefferson County Conservation District fall Natural Landscaping course.

The interactive three-classroom, two field trip course emphasizes native plants and sustainable landscape design and maintenance practices. Course participants will learn how to analyze unique ecological conditions of their properties and develop site-specific landscape plans in harmony with the environment while meeting homeowner needs.

Classroom sessions are set for 4-5:30 p.m. on Mondays at the Washington State University classroom facility in Port Hadlock classroom, starting Oct.9. Field trips will be 4-5:30 p.m. on Oct. 12 and Oct. 19.

A $10 registration fee covers the cost of facility rental and handouts. Register online at jeffersoncd.org/news-events. The deadline to register is Oct. 2.

The course is taught by conservation district manager Joe Holtrop who has been teaching about sustainable landscaping on the Olympic Peninsula for more than 30 years.

For more information, email to jholtrop@jeffersoncd.org or call 360-554-8066.

Local office open to help disabled vets

The Disabled American Veterans (DAV) office in the Worksource building, 810 W. Brackett Road, is open 9:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. every Wednesday to serve veterans who are needing help with claims or other information.

Services are free and veterans do not have to be members of DAV to receive assistance.

The office is by walk-in; no appointment is necessary. Masks are optional.

For more information, call 360-775-6482.

Guild’s thrift shop to be open

The Sequim Dungeness Hospital Guild Thrift Shop, 204 W. Bell St., will be open 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Sept. 21-23. Blue tag items are half-off and the store is restocked daily.

Donations are welcome 10 a.m.-1 p.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays and when the shop is open. The guild is also seeking volunteers; get more information at the shop.

Partial closures at Hurricane Ridge

As Olympic National Park staff continue to work to restore access to Hurricane Ridge, utility trenching starts this week and will lead to partial closures of the road to the Hurricane Hill trailhead and will cause a temporary reduction in parking spaces in the Hurricane Ridge parking lot for about three weeks.

The work, which began Sept. 19, is in the Hurricane Ridge parking lot. Visitors should expect additional delays in accessing Hurricane Ridge during the period of construction.

This trenching allows the park to make further progress towards providing winter access to Hurricane Ridge by installing the utility services that will eventually connect to temporary public restrooms, as well as the Hurricane Ridge weather station and other essential park infrastructure, officials said.

The Hurricane Hill Road, a 1.5-mile road beyond the main Hurricane Ridge parking area, provides access to two picnic areas, the Wolf Creek Trail, and the Hurricane Hill Trail.

This road will be closed on weekdays during the period of construction; vehicle access will be restored on Saturdays and Sundays. Visitors who want to hike the Hurricane Hill Trail on weekdays should be prepared for twice the hike length (six miles instead of three miles) and an additional 380 feet of elevation gain. Visitors will still be able to access these locations during the closures, but only by foot.