Burien’s Hospitality House will be holding its Spring Fling Dinner and Boats for Beds Fundraiser on Saturday, March 6th at the Cove in Normandy Park beginning at 6pm.

Located in Burien, Hospitality House is a shelter and place of transition for homeless women in south King County. The Women of Hospitality House are supported by more than 12 local churches and organizations as well as by our local communities. Home-cooked meals are provided 365 days per year by volunteers. With the staff case workers, over 70 women each year develop and work their individual plans to find home, health and hope (see hospitalityhousesouthking.org to learn more).

Richard LeMieux, the author of “Breakfast at Sally’s,” will be the featured speaker, and according to a press release:

”Richard has lived in Washington State since 1981. He ran his own publishing company, producing medical directories and university student directories for 14 years. When his business failed, he lost his livelihood, his home, his possessions, and his wife of 17 years.

Richard was homeless in Bremerton, WA, with his dog, Willow, for a year and a half. He lived in his minivan while writing Breakfast at Sally’s with a second-hand manual typewriter at picnic tables in parks around the city.

While he was homeless, Richard and the other homeless people he portrays in his book regularly visited Sally’s, the soup kitchen at The Salvation Army in Bremerton.”

Today Richard has committed himself to sharing the story of homelessness with people of all backgrounds and of all ages across the country.

A short film about Hospitality House will be premiered at this dinner and a former resident will also be sharing her story.

Three Tree Point Yacht Club will be partnering with Hospitality House to raise funds with Boats for Beds. Guests will have the opportunity to purchase “the boat” or individual seats aboard one of several sailboats. It will be a fun afternoon of racing Saturday, June 26 out of the Des Moines Marina. What better way to celebrate a graduation, Father’s Day, girls’ day out, engagement or anniversary, than as crew, passenger or ballast aboard one of these special sailboats and with this fun-loving community of people? The boats are each photographed and featured on the Hospitalityhousesouthking.org website.

Tickets are available for purchase online at this website.

There will be a Rummage Sale this Sunday, May 17th at the Normandy Park Cove Community Center, located at 1500 SW Shorebrook Drive in Normandy Park (map below), from 10am to 3pm, and here are the details:

WHAT: Normandy Park Cove Rummage Sale

WHEN: Sunday, May 17th from 10am to 3pm

WHERE: Normandy Park Cove, located at 1500 SW Shorebrook Drive (map below)

INFO: Many vendors, inside and outside spaces; bring your not-so-useful-stuff-anymore for another huge rummage sale! Tables inside are $20, or set up in the lot for free. You can come and buy stuff also!

CONTACT: Contact coordinator Staci McLaughlin at 206-242-3778

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Are you a fan of the Normandy Park Cove, even though you’re not necessarily an owner of an “A Lot”?

This Saturday, March 14th, is your first opportunity of 2009 to show your love by volunteering for the first Stewards of the Cove work party.

It starts at 9am and goes until Noon,  with various activities to care for the area along Miller/Walker Creeks where they meet the Sound in Normandy Park.

Sign up with Tony Cassarino, 206-246-9941.

More info from the Normandy Park Community Club website:

Stewards of the Cove are needed to preserve and protect Miller and Walker Creeks and the restoration work accomplished by the Stream Team in 2004. This involves the removal of invasive plants, caring for new native plants for the first year, protecting the salmon spawning areas, protecting streamside vegetation and maintaining water quality.

We can all be Stewards of the Cove on the 2nd Saturday of each month. Join your neighbors and together enjoy the natural wonder of the Cove. Stay for as long as you can (one hour of stewardship per month per household is a lot of tender loving care for the Cove).

The most recent work by the Stewards of the Cove has been the Stream & Wetlands Restoration Project.

Click here for details and pictures.

Why Good Stewardship Matters
Whether you live near or far from Miller and Walker Creeks, good stewardship of our land and water carries multiple benefits:

• Healthier home and yard for children and pets
• Cleaner water in our streams and at Puget Sound beaches
• Less flooding and erosion
• Healthy urban forests and green spaces

Miller and Walker Creeks need your energy and enthusiasm one last time this year, so come join the “Stewards of the Cove” in Normandy Park this Sat. Oct. 11th.

All four Saturdays in October offer opportunities to help volunteer to improve the Highline environment for people and fish, so get your gloves ready and mark your calendars.

Plus, these events are fun!

WHAT: Plant native trees and shrubs alongside the experienced hands of EarthCorps. Lunch provided. Sign up with Tony Cassarino, 206-246-9941.

WHEN: Saturday, October 11, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m

WHERE: Normandy Park Community Club, located at 1500 SW Shorebrook Drrive (map below)

Guests are welcome to the next Southwest Guild of the Seattle Art Museum monthly meeting and program on Tuesday, Sept. 30th at the Normandy Park Cove Community Center, 1500 Shorebrook Drive, Normandy Park, WA.

Coffee and refreshments will be available from 10am until 10:30.

After a short business meeting, the speaker, Pam McClusky, curator of “Art of Africa and Oceania” at the Seattle Art Museum, will explain her new exhibit at SAM displaying the fascinating history of the importance of beads through out the centuries.

Membership in the Southwest Guild is enjoyed by adults from a vast area including; Seattle, Vashon Island, Enumclaw, Tacoma, Renton, Kent, Federal Way, Burien, Normandy Park and other areas.

Adults interested in visual arts are welcome to attend the guild’s monthly 4th Tuesday meetings and programs as guests twice before joining for $15/year.

Membership in the Seattle Art Museum is mandatory.

For more information, please call (206) 246-4415.

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Here’s a charming video shot recently of a sea otter hanging out at the Cove: