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thrive today for Northshore's residents In 1983, the
Reporter’s predecessor, my Northshore Citizen weekly newspaper,
published a guide to community services on the occasion of the 25th
silver anniversary of the founding of the Northshore Rotary Club.
It is interesting to look back at the services highlighted back
then and reviewing which ones are thriving today for the betterment of
the residents throughout our Northshore communities.
The list included (along with my comments related to present day
activities):
Northshore Recreation Council was comprised of volunteers
and elected board members who worked with the school district to provide
a limited number of programs, most of which were designed to fill the
summer hours for out-of-school youths looking for fun and companionship.
Today the recreation (and park) activities have been assumed by city
governments in Bothell, Kenmore and Woodinville, and are much more
expansive, covering everything from art to music along with individual
and team sporting activity.
Butterfly Thrift Shop was in its very, very early stages.
Today the program is still run by volunteers and provides $100 grants to
help those in emergency situations who are desperate to catch up on
their rent or utility bills. The non-profit has purchased its renovated
house in downtown Bothell and its key supporters, Gretchen and John
Earley were recently named citizens of the year by the Woodinville
Rotary Club.
Northeast Multi-Service Center was established in Bothell
in the early 1970s at a time when Boeing’s manufacturing future was in
doubt and a Seattle wag had posted a billboard imploring that the last
person to leave Seattle should “please turn out the lights.” Unemployment hit residents of the Northshore area
as well. As a result, the center was organized out of community activism
to help folks find jobs, to provide a makeshift food bank and to offer
transportation to those in need of medical care or to find a way to
temporary employment. Today the Center has grown to become the
Eastside’s premier social services agency, Hopelink. It started right
here in Bothell and the original facilities in Bothell remain one of six
Hopelink centers serving the needs of thousands from Shoreline through
the Northshore communities, to Redmond, Kirkland, Bellevue and
Carnation. Northshore Senior Center
started as part of the multi-service effort. I remember the remarkable
future leader of the senior services, the recently retired Marianne
LoGerfo, starting out with the center as a volunteer receptionist and
bus driver. This month the Northshore Senior Services program opens a
$6-million Northshore Health and Wellness Center across the street from
its activities complex on East Riverside Drive in Bothell.
Northshore’s growth of services for seniors is a remarkable story. Custom Industries
in Kenmore was established on property at Bothell Way (SR 522 and 68th
Ave. NE) then owned by Jane Hallock Paige and the late Walt Hallock who
not only provided the land but also constructed the building for a
program to provide employment opportunities for disabled adults. The
program became so successful that it outgrew the Kenmore site and was
relocated in the Bellevue area under the name of “at Work!”. Little Bit Therapeutic Riding
Center program was in its infancy in Woodinville with dedicated
parents and relatives working diligently for hay and feed donations, and
for horses with the right temperament to place under the saddle of the
disabled youngsters and adults for their session of therapeutic
horseback riding. Today the program thrives with 160 riders per week
compared with 60 in 1983, has its own website at www.littlebit.org
and thinks nothing of raising a quarter million dollars at a yearly
auction that attracts program loyalists from throughout Puget Sound.
Director Kathy Alm reminds us classes take place in an environment that
emphasizes abilities rather than disabilities and generates amazing
results. Northshore Scholarship Foundation
was in only the talking stage among leaders of the Northshore Rotary
Club in 1983. Nine club members organized the Foundation a year later as
a tax-exempt corporation with $5,661 and offered the opportunity for
families and organizations to establish scholarship-granting endowments.
Today the Foundation, Rotary and Kiwanis clubs have provided nearly $1
million in scholarships to almost 1,000 local high school graduates and,
while generating $1,231,000 in contributions over the years, still holds
an asset base of $1,100,000. Try www.ns-scholarship.org
Northshore YMCA, a four-year old branch
operation at the time, was concentrating on programs and services while
laying the groundwork for a new facility in the North Creek Valley.
Today that ever-expanding program is housed in a 53,000 square
foot facility with two gymnasiums, racquetball courts, an indoor track,
a teen center, nursery, and a youth adventure zone in the
state-of-the-art facility. The aquatic area has a six-lane, 25-yard lap
pool. One of its unique services this month is partnering with the
Northshore School District to enroll 60 youngsters in a English Language
Learning camp at Westhill school and at the converted fire station near
Arrowhead school in Kenmore. In 2008 the Northshore Rotarians will celebrate a
half-century of support of the needs in our communities. It will be
interesting to see what organizations and good works will have been
added to the list of private-inspired groups dedicated to serving the
public. We in Northshore are truly blessed with such
programs and facilities. Those we have featured are but a smattering.
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The Previous Columns for
August 3, 2005 for
July 20, 2005 July
6, 2005 June
18, 2005 June
4, 2005 May
18, 2005 May
4, 2005 April
20, 2005 April
6, 2005 March
16, 2005 March
2, 2005 February
16, 2005 February
2, 2005 January
19, 2005 January
5, 2005 December
15, 2004 December
1, 2004 Nov.
17, 2004 November
3, 2004 October
20, 2004 October
6, 2004 Sept
15, 2004 Sept.
1, 2004 August
18, 2004 August
4, 2004 |
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John
B. Hughes |
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Hughes
serves
as grand marshal |
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Hugo
and (425) 482-4076 |
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