November 28, 2013 • The Whidbey Examiner
Festival group to award community grants Dec. 2 By Nathan Whalen Staff Reporter
Thanks to a well-attended summer festival, tens of thousands of dollars will be awarded next month in the form of grants. The Coupeville Festival Association is awarding 15 grants totaling $30,000. Those grants will be awarded during an event scheduled for 7 p.m., Monday, Dec. 2 at the Whidbey General Hospital conference room. The Coupeville Festival Association, which operates the Coupeville Arts and Crafts Festival, awards grants each year based on whether a project promotes quality handcrafts and the arts; ensures the cultural enrichment of residents living within the 98239 area code; and beautifies and preserves the unique historic qualities of Coupeville, according to the grant application. The association received 21 applications and, of that number, 15 will receive awards, said Mary Lou Chandler, secretary of the Coupeville Festival Association. The award-winners were notified that they were receiving money, but
were not told how much. Chandler said the applications that didn’t receive money were worthy causes, but didn’t meet the grant requirements. Grants are funded by the fees the 220 or so artists and craftspeople pay for a booth at the two-day festival that occurs in early August, Chandler said. Once all of the costs for the festival are paid, the remaining proceeds are doled out in the form of community grants and student scholarships. Those scholarships were awarded in May 2013. Katelyn Wynn earned the “Mary Jo Eisenmann Scholarship;” Daniel Savalza earned the “Ken Jampsa memorial Scholarship;” and Kelsey Miranda earned the “Linda Lee Martens Memorial Scholarship.” Including the 2013 grant winners, the Coupeville Festival Association has awarded more that $750,000 to community projects in the event’s 49year history.
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Wifi zone goes live downtown By Megan Hansen Editor
Visitors to downtown Coupeville can now access the Internet free of charge. A free wifi zone was created by the Coupeville Historic Waterfront Association with financial partnership with Allstate Insurance and Town of Coupeville. The zone encompasses the downtown corridor from Coupeville Inn to Main Street and down onto the wharf. CWHA started the project earlier last year and has been working to find the best system for the project. Project chair Denis Hill said he started with researching equipment and testing devices. The system consists of a series of repeaters placed strategically around town. Finding the best spots was really a trial-and-error process, Hill said. When doing research, it was about finding the most user-friendly system. Visitors with wifi devices can pick up the signal downtown. In order to access it, however, they must first open their web browser and sign a user agreement.
If visitors need help finding the service, many of the businesses downtown have signs in windows with directions on the back. The intention of the project is to provide another layer of service, said Vickie Chambers, executive director for CHWA. While in the testing stages of the project, Hill said visitors were finding the connection. During one weekend in 24 hours, 61 unique visitors logged on. The service is not intended for businesses or homes in the area with access to replace their personal service, but for the occasional visitor. The project has no financial gain, but does benefit area, businesses and other various groups. One of the things people will benefit from is that Coupeville is so photogenic, Hill said. Families visiting the area can snap pictures downtown and promptly upload them to social media, which in turn increases Coupeville’s web presence. Having the system is also a benefit in emergencies. Chambers said one of the repeaters is located at Coupe-
Megan Hansen photo
Denis Hill checks the app on his phone he uses to monitor Coupeville’s new public wifi system. Many businesses downtown have signs in window directing users how to log onto the system. ville Rec Hall. During an emergency, if the power goes out, the hall has a generator so the building would still have Internet service if needed.
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