Long Beach Peninsula exploration

15 members of our club spent five days exploring the Long Beach Peninsula, the lovely 28 mile beach on the southwest corner of Washington state.  We enjoyed lots of trail walking, exploring history and eating seafood.  Thank you to the Chinook native people and the local inhabitants for sharing this beautiful home with us.  Take a peek at our discovery below.

LB trivia answers

 

Journey to Seattle

FFCC members spent a lovely three nights with our friends in Seattle in mid-April.  We visited the Ballard Locks for a tour of the transport system with a picnic at Commodore Park (see herons nests below); the RoozenGaarde and Skagit Acres to walk in the tulips; a forest hike at Deception Pass; and lots of time chatting and eating with friends.  Wonderful time to make friends and share camaraderie.  Happy Easter to our friends around the globe!

Japanese-American Internment presentation

Joni Kimoto-Reeves, a local Japanese-American who was incarcerated in an internment camp during WWII, invited us to hear her story about her experience.  Several members and some younger family members attended on November 7, 2021, 11am, at the St. James Lutheran Church at 1315 SW Park and Jefferson in downtown Portland.  Joni Kimoto told her very touching story, along with a power point presentation entitled Looking Like the enemy, A Child of the Camp.  Thank you Joni for inviting us, sharing your very personal experience, and helping shed light on this historical fact.

2021 Annual Meeting

Our 2021 Annual Meeting will be held via Zoom at 10am, Saturday, November 13, 2021.  President Pat Stryker will be leading us again into the new year, along with her board who all have agreed to continue on for another year.  Thank you to all for your service.  Please join us to review what we have been doing this past year regardless of the Covid restrictions that have kept us home.  We are still learning and sharing culture and friendships across the world.  May your world be filled with peace, kindness, love and friendships of every variety!

Email Gwen if you wish to join.  She will then send you a zoom link.

Virtual Journey with Seattle Club

FFCC and FF Seattle held a great virtual journey during the months of January and February courtesy of Zoom and some very special members with presentation skills.  Getting to know our own larger communities is especially delightful in these times of hunkering down at home.  Thank you to the Seattle club for suggesting this and making it happen.  If you are interested in learning more about this or participating after the fact, we did tape the events.  Check out both club newsletters for more information.  A special thank you to Mary Dickson and Joyce Frost for coordinating all the activities!  Job well done.

Activity Changes

We continue to hold board meetings via Zoom.  Please stay tuned for information coming soon on our annual meeting.   Please plan to attend!  See you there!

Zoom meeting with FF Seattle

All members are invited to share in a Zoom meeting hosted by the Seattle FF club on Sunday, August 30th, 3pm.  Jeremi Shook, FFI CEO, and Bobbie Mulholland, FFI Board Chair will be featured conversation and there will be time for Q&A.   Way to go Seattle FF.  Come and join the fun exploring.

For more information contact Mary Dickson at mbdinor@gmail.com.

2020 Annual Picnic

Our annual picnic is this week, Wednesday August 26, 11:00am at Frenchman’s Bar in Vancouver, Washington.  There is a parking fee.  Go west from I-5 onto Mill Plain which becomes Lower River Road.  Turn left rather than going to Lake Vancouver at the junction to Frenchman’s Bar.  We will be at the covered pavilion at the end of the parking lot on the Columbia River.  Bring your own chair, drink, food, and MASK!  All of us will be appropriately social distancing.  We intend to walk the trail.  Come join the fun and have a good time checking in on your friends!

Covid-19 and communicating by Zoom

Yes, Covid-19 has us all trying new things.  Our members are trying to stay home and be healthy.  We have converted our meetings to Zoom hosted electronic meetings and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.  That does not mean that we aren’t active.  We are working on new ways to communicate and visit with one another.  For example, instead of visiting a local restaurant, we are zooming together while we eat at home.  And we are zooming together to make plans for upcoming journeys, hoping that 2021 will allow us some time to travel.

Holiday Boat Parade

We will be watching the holiday boat parade from Donna’s vantage point in Vancouver Friday, December 13th from 6pm onward. Come join the fun watching boats, and singing carols while Donna serenades us with the piano! All are welcome! See calendar for details.