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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2011 Vol. 56, No. 45
VIPP VOLUNTEERS: MAKING THE SEASON BRIGHT
, December
on Saturday
3, 2011.
www.vashonbeachcomber.com
Elves return to Vashon, but with a different mission By NATALIE JOHNSON Staff Writer
Lawrence Huggins Photo
Nearly 40 volunteers joined forces last weekend to participate in Vashon Island Pet Protectors’ wreath and swag sale. The sale, an annual Island tradition since 1993, was well-attended, according to longtime VIPP volunteer Terri Fletcher. The group sold more than $6,000 worth of the holiday greenery and garnered another $600 in donations — enough to cover one month’s worth of vet bills, Fletcher said. Fletcher, who’s been volunteering with the sale for nine years, said it’s a festive fundraiser, with Islanders stopping by in the holiday spirit and creative volunteers hard at work. She gave another reason she likes volunteering at the sale. “It smells good,” she said, taking in the aroma of a room full of freshly cut evergreens. The money from the sale will support VIPP’s cat shelter, dog adoption program and other efforts. Above, several volunteers — front row, from left, Emily and Mara Burns, Molly Malone, Roger Ford, Fletcher and, back row, Emma Newby and Ann Walker — make wreaths on Friday.
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This weekend Islanders who drive through Vashon’s main intersection will notice some familiar faces: volunteers in elf outfits, complete with striped socks and pointy ears, collecting money from drivers who pass by. Those who pay close attention, though, will notice that this winter the elves have changed their game a little. Buttons on their chests show they are no longer the Food Bank Elves but the Island Elves. And signs on the side of the road tell drivers they’re now collecting for Vashon Youth & Family Services (VYFS), not the food bank. “(The food bank’s) donations are doing fine, and we thought we could help another agency,” said head elf Bernie O’Malley. Indeed, Islander Rex Stratton gave some money to the elves the first weekend they were out this month, not even noticing, he said, that they’d switched charities. “I’m so used to seeing them raising money for the food bank,” he said. Though the elves have become linked with the food bank, O’Malley pointed out that none of them were food bank volunteers when they began the effort three years ago. “We just started out as elves and took up the food bank cause. … We’re
just freelance elves,” he said with a laugh. The fundraiser began in the winter of 2008, when the food bank saw a sudden surge in need due to the recession. O’Malley, owner of East West Produce, the fresh food market sometimes in front of The Hardware Store Restaurant, had donated produce to the food bank and knew several people who used it; he’d also read newspaper articles about its struggles to make ends meet and wanted to help out. He and a friend, Tag Gornall, devised a way to combine what they considered two successful fundraisers — firefighters collecting money from drivers and Salvation Army volunteers ringing bells outside stores. They gathered about a dozen of their friends, many of them well-known Islanders, who agreed to ring bells at the intersection and embraced the eye-catching elf costumes. Now, drive-by donations at the four-way stop average a few dollars, O’Malley said, but range from 25 cents to several hundred dollars. One year a man pulled up and handed an elf a $1,000 check. “It’s successful for a couple reasons,” O’Malley said. “It’s small entertainment, it builds community spirit, SEE ELVES, 19
Art Studio Tour: Shane Jewell and Emily Pruiksma
A couple learns to live simply, richly By JULI MORSER For The Beachcomber
To step into Shane Jewell and Emily Pruiksma’s home in Paradise Valley is to enter a world made by hand — their own hands. Consider first where they live: Tucked behind Plum Forest Farm, past wooden gates, a chicken coop and several Scottish Highland cows, sits a pair of yurts, the couple’s home and music studio. Inside, the hand-made feel begins with the warm patina of the hand-packed earthen cob floor on up to the hand-bent poles supporting the handsewn cover. Then look around: There’s the folding rocking chair Pruiksma made. Jewell’s handcrafted 17-foot umiak. The beloved hurdy-gurdy he built.
A sturdy worm bin Pruiksma crafted. They don’t own a car. A wood-fired cookstove heats the hot water tank. They power their washing machine by pedaling a stationary bicycle. Energy for their electric chainsaw and rototiller comes from the sun. Their 1920s-era treadle sewing machine — gifted to them by an Islander — is a steady workhorse. And these days, as they ready themselves for Vashon’s 29th annual Art Studio Tour this weekend, their handcrafted lives are on display more than ever. Hand-dipped beeswax candles — made in part from beeswax they collected on Vashon — line a table. Etched-glass candle holders and pendant necklaces line another. And Pruiksma’s SEE COUPLE, 26
Lawrence Huggins Photo
Shane Jewell and Emily Pruiksma’s life, as well as their art, will be on display at this weekend’s Art Studio Tour.