Fourth of July in Centralia

Above: Centralia city councilor Peter Abbarno, 41, in gray shirt, participated in the SWAT challenge Tuesday morning. The activities were part of a fundraiser benefiting children in the community, sponsored by the Centralia Police Officers Association.

By Janine Gates

Little Hollywood

http://www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

On the Fourth of July, community members in the City of Centralia partied like it was 1776. Fireworks throughout Lewis County could be heard well after midnight.

The festivities began in Borst Park with a pancake feed, served by local city councilors, and an 8K and a 1.5K run called, “I Ran from the Cops,” followed by a Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) challenge.

The challenge stations -- running, push ups, sit ups, and pull ups -- were part of an actual entry level SWAT exam as specified by the Washington State Training Commission. 

Administered by regional SWAT team members, the timed test is the same that every SWAT officer must pass on the first day of SWAT school. If an officer fails any event, the officer is sent home right then – no excuses or exceptions.

Luckily for these participants, no one was booted out, because it was all for a good cause.

Above: Runners start the 1.5K run on Tuesday morning at Borst Park. Annnie Voetberg of Centralia was the first woman to cross the 1.5K finish line at 8 minutes and 50 seconds.

Sponsored by the Centralia Police Officers Association, the funds raised through entry fees go toward scholarships, bike helmets for kids, and community projects serving hundreds of children.

There were over 100 participants this year, said Lewis County Sheriff Rob Snaza, who supervised the performance of many of the possible recruits, including eleven members of the Johnson Family. 

Ribbons were awarded for participation, timing, and ability ranked within several age categories.

Above: Bentley Johnson, 7, of Centralia, shows everyone how it’s done. He did 121 push ups.

Above: Samantha Johnston, 11, of Centralia, focuses before accomplishing six pull ups. She received a ribbon for coming in fourth for her age category.

Later, a parade was held in downtown Centralia, as well as a demolition derby and fireworks display at the Southwest Washington Fairgrounds.

Thanksgiving Is Served with Barb O’Neill’s Family and Friends

By Janine Gates

www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

Barb O’Neill’s Family and Friends succeeded in pulling off their 46^th Annual Thanksgiving Dinner on Wednesday at United Churches of Olympia for those who wished for a warm environment, good food, and great company. 

An estimated 26 to 30 turkeys with all the trimmings were served by 5:00 p.m. Desserts, bread items, children’s books, and clothing of all types were available as well. Some folks stayed all afternoon.

Kevin Harris, just one of many essential volunteers, has played a role with the traditional community meal for 26 years. As the dining room coordinator, he estimated that they served fewer meals than usual this year, but to get an accurate count, they will do a full count of plates served. Those who asked received additional, full Thanksgiving meals to go, and there were many requests.

This reporter was a grateful recipient of generous portions of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, garlic bread, cranberry sauce, pickles and refreshments.  I passed on the black olives, but they were also offered. 

This year, I handed out pre-wrapped egg salad sandwiches and later did a stint stationed on the assembly line, serving up the creamy mashed potatoes. 

The community-wide invitation to share in the meal is available to anyone, because friendly companionship is just as important as food. I met several fascinating members of our local community. People chatted, a band played jazzy tunes and volunteers like Gracie Anderson, 16, were back to share in the camaraderie.

The Olympia High School student came late in the afternoon because there was a full day of school, and as a result, fewer teenagers were present to volunteer. She has had a busy year since I last saw her last Thanksgiving.

In Spring of last year, she, along with her mother and aunt who are both school mental health counselors in Chehalis, decided to do something for that community and the Chehalis School District.

As if being a fulltime student wasn’t enough, Anderson started an organization, Food for our Future, based on the successful model of Thurston County’s Homeless Backpacks. She is now in the process of applying for her organization’s non-profit status.

Starting with two elementary schools, Food for our Future is now in three Lewis County schools, providing 75 bags of food each week for students who might otherwise go hungry over the weekend when school is not in session. Bags of food are distributed on Fridays to students determined to be homeless through criteria based on the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Act.

The Act determines that children are deemed homeless if they are living on the streets, in a shelter, or couch-surfing. Families are able to opt-out of Anderson’s program if they so choose.

Anderson recently paired with Hannah Hart who sponsors “Have a Hart Day,” an international initiative to “organize and mobilize Hartosexuals & friendly humans to spread service and reckless optimism all over the world.” (Go to www.youtube.com/harto and you might get hooked watching Hart's Newlyfriend Game with Daniel Radcliffe).  

Anderson served as the city captain of Chehalis for three “Have a Hart Day,” events and received 30 volunteers to bag food. Usually, Anderson said, they have about 10 volunteers to bag food.

“Now we have enough bagged food for four weeks!” she said.

Anderson’s enthusiasm to help others is contagious. She shared many stories of individuals she has met who inspire her to continue her work to help others.

“I want everyone to have the same opportunities that I have had….For me, it’s about doing my best and doing everything I can because I’ve been so incredibly lucky,” said Anderson.

Barb O'Neill's Family and Friends keeps growing.

To contact Food for our Future, contact Gracie Anderson at Gracie.Anderson.ffof@gmail.com.

Homeless Backpacks is a local non-profit 501c3 corporation committed to ending homelessness by giving teens the help they need so they can focus on school, go on to graduate and become contributing citizens.

They provide food for the weekend to homeless teens in Thurston, Mason and Grays Harbor Counties. Begun in 2004, the group serves between 300-400 students per week in Thurston County. For more information, go to www.homelessbackpacks.org.

To read more about Gracie Anderson, or Barb O’Neill’s Family and Friends Thanksgiving Dinner, go to Little Hollywood at www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com and type key words into the search button.