REPORTER
Mercer Island
Serving the Mercer Island community since 1947
Island real estate in flux
Orange is the new green
Playground ribbon cutting The community is welcome to join Parks and Recreation in celebrating the completion of the new playground at a ribbon cutting ceremony, at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 10, in the Luther Burbank Park playground at 2040 84th Ave. S.E.
Extended government shutdown may erase gains in sales, prices
Attention artists
By Reporter Staff
The Arts Council is accepting “Applications to Exhibit” for the 2014 Gallery year. For information and to apply, go to www.mercergov. org/gallery. The application deadline is Oct. 25, 2013.
Friendship Circle walk is Oct. 13
Rebecca Mar/Staff Photo
The huge colorful dahlias in the community pea patch garden on the north end of the Island, above Luther Burbank Park, serve as a sign of the coming season.
The Walk With Friendship, to increase awareness for special needs children, is from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m., Oct. 13, at Luther Burbank Park, 2040 84th Ave. S.E. After the walk, celebrate in the park with a free event open to the public. For more, go to www. walkwithfriendship.com or see more on page 18.
Volunteers drive thrift store profit
MI Parent Edge event is Oct. 15 Science writer Annie Murphy Paul will speak about her coming book, “Brilliant - The New Science of Smart,” about new research on learning that can help everyone expand their intelligence. The event is set for 7 p.m., Oct. 15, at the Mercer Island High School Performing Arts Center. Admission is free for Mercer Island PTA members, and $10 for nonmembers. Contact Susan Gibbons at (206) 940-3398.
Fewer volunteers, students bring down store revenues this summer By Mary L. Grady
editor@mi-reporter.com
The Mercer Island Thrift Shop makes money because it relies on volunteers to do everything from sorting donations to stocking shelves and more. But over the last few months, some volunteers have left, and the store has suffered. The implications of the trend are serious as the city begins plans to sell bonds to expand the Thrift Shop. City Finance Director Chip
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Corder noted that the impact of the decline in sales, of course, is what will happen to plans to expand the shop, which provides revenues for Mercer Island Youth and Family Services programs. The use of unpaid labor is key. “The success of the thrift store is based on volunteers,” Corder said. Not only do community volunteers spend countless hours at the store, but many students — many who are work-study students — are important to keeping the shop a success as well. Thrift store coordinator Suzanne Philen said that the “human piece of running the store is very dynamic.” Over time, older volunteers “age out,” she said. And now,
2448 76th Ave SE, 2448 76th Ave SE, Suite 107 Suite 107 Mercer Island, WA Mercer Island, WA 98040 98040 (206) 275-2700 (206) 275-2700
work-study or student volunteers are becoming harder to find. “Some cuts to state funding have limited work-study students,” Philen said. “And it has been harder to get students to leave campus and come here.” As for the impact from the federal government shutdown, just one student is paid with federal money, she said. The student will continue to be paid, however, and the city will be reimbursed. Materials prepared for the Mercer Island City Council detail the decline. “The Thrift Shop’s double digit revenue growth through June 30, 2013, pulled back significantly in July and August, due to several unforeseeable factors unique to a retail community business that relies on volunteer and work study students for staffing: 1) an inability to recruit work-study students; 2) reduction in the amount of hours from the volunteer core; and 3) expanding store hours, assuming there would be
September turned out to be a very different month for the housing market, compared to August. The temperature of the recent market for Island homes already seemed to be plunging into fall. And the heavy rain of the last days of the month did not help. Yes, the children are back in school, and families turn their attention to getting them settled rather than searching for a new home. But there were other reasons for the changes in the market. Along with the rain, September tested the housing market’s resilience around Western Washington with fluctuating mortgage rates
REAL ESTATE | PAGE 8
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Benson
Wong
for Mercer Island City Council Position 6
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