Louis Braille School

Staff and teachers have noticed how eagerly Louis Braille School students volunteer to participate in an event or activity that helps other members of our community. For example, last December they collected food for the hungry in front of a nearby supermarket and subsequently delivered the donations to a local food bank.

Their inspiring efforts made the news on Seattle’s KING-5 and KOMO-4 television stations, and their pictures were published in the Seattle Times newspaper.

Last week, they raised money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association during Disability Awareness Week by taking part in a Hop-A-Thon.

Here’s how the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) described the event in their guidelines:

“To raise money for neuromuscular diseases, you and the children in your class will hop during a two-minute time period. We ask that you contact friends, relatives and co-workers and ask them to support you by making a flat donation or pledge for each hop to MDA.”

Before the Hop-A-Thon began at Louis Braille School, teacher Beckie prepared the students. “We talked about disabilities all week long,” she said, “and about helping children with disabilities.”

She also suggested the students hop on a small trampoline donated to the school last year.

The students were enthusiastic about that idea. Two of them had never been on a trampoline before.

Asked if hopping on the trampoline was hard work or fun, one student said, “It was hard work and fun!”

After telling us he had gone pretty high on the trampoline, that same student was asked if he brought back any clouds with him. “No,” he said, “because I don’t want it to rain down here.”

Students averaged about 100 hops each.

“The students have done well,” teacher Beckie said. “They’ve raised money for the MDA, which will send kids to camp, kids who normally wouldn’t get to go. It also helps buy wheelchairs and leg braces, so we are helping other children that need help.”

Ginny Burger returned to the Louis Braille School on Tuesday, April 7th.

Last January, Ginny brought bulbs, pots and potting soil to our classroom and spent an afternoon teaching our students the proper way to put everything together (see our Feb. 16th, 2009 blog story, Watching Things Grow).

This time she carried a large, oddly-shaped, fabric bag into school and headed for the library. The zipper on her bag is 6-feet long and down it came.

Inside the parted fabric lay a large harp.

Ginny removed the harp from the carrying bag, stood it straight up, and talked about the levers. They sit on the wood part of the harp above the strings, looking like toggle switches.

When she flipped a lever and plucked its corresponding string, the pitch would rise.

“On this harp, every string has a lever,” she explained. “So every string can be changed from a regular note to a sharp.”

After the students had a chance to make sounds with the strings and watch Ginny tune the harp, everyone sang a medley of classic children’s and popular songs that included The Wheels on the Bus, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, Take Me Out to the Ball Game, and She’ll Be Comin’ Round the Mountain.

Every song sounded good on the harp, but Edelweiss may have sounded best of all.

Teacher Dianne called the harp music “celestial.”

“The harp has a very nice effect on the students,” she said. “It’s stimulating and calming at the same time.”

Ginny said the harp’s vibration “does something inside your body. You can feel the effect from all stringed instruments, but mostly from the harp.”

After the students thanked Ginny for playing and allowing them to touch the harp, Ginny said she’ll learn the songs they requested for next time.

“The kids like the music and it’s fun for them to get to know the harp and touch the strings,” she said after the concert. “And they’re really enthusiastic singers!”

Sunshine and a view of ferries sailing back and forth across Puget Sound came through the picture windows of the South County Senior Center in Edmonds last Saturday, March 21st, as a crowd of Louis Braille School supporters attended the 2009 Benefit Auction.

Auctioneer Bobby Mills and Master of Ceremonies Tom Snyder, both of whom belong to the Edmonds Lions Club, served with humor and energy on a day when the auction raised a bit more money this year than it did in 2008.

Carolyn Meyer, Director of the Louis Braille School, gave the Louis Braille School Distingushed Service Award to District 19B Lions.

The award, initiated in 2007, is presented to those who have made a significant difference for people who are blind or visually impaired.

Supporters were serenaded by the SeaSharps, a barbershop quartet out of Seattle, and ate homemade, hand-cranked ice cream provided by Mark Hanberg, a milkman from Edmonds who calls himself the Moo Man.

Puppies in training to be Guide Dogs for the Blind made an appearance at the event and were petted and admired by the crowd.

Prior to enjoying dessert, attendees had pizza from Pagliacci’s (the Louis Braille School’s next door neighbor) and gourmet sodas from the Dry Soda Company in Seattle.

The most notable culinary contributions may have come from Cindy Van Winkle and her daughter, Amanda Wearstler.

Cindy baked a pineapple upside down cake that was truly mouth watering and spurred some lively bidding, while Amanda made a cake ingeniously decorated with braille fashioned from chocolate that rested atop a snow-white icing.

Two Louis Braille School students spoke at the event and each was joined by a parent.

Jennifer Wheeler, mother of student Brett Wheeler, spoke movingly about Brett’s early challenges in life and the more recent decision her family made to move from eastern Washington to Edmonds, so that Brett could attend the Louis Braille School.

Both Jennifer and Brett are glad they made the move.

Before the Wheelers took the stage, student Jordan Frank and his father, Steve, spoke to the audience of supporters.

Steve asked his son what he liked best about the Louis Braille School and Jordan loudly said, “Learning!”

With that answer, Jordan made us smile and think at the same time. If ever a single word could have summed up the reason the auction takes place, makes all the hard work worthwhile, and imparts a sense of purpose to the school’s supporters, what could serve better than “Learning”?

We want to thank the following volunteers, without whose help the auction could not have taken place: the Delta Gamma Beta University of Washington Beta Chapter, Essie Fletcher, Glen Hair, Nancy Hamilton, Grace Lackey, Julie LeMay, Virginia Low, Kathryn McMaster, the Meadowdale High School Leos, Claudia Mills, Georgia Snyder, and CathyYocom.

A special thanks goes out to the Imagine Children’s Museum of Everett. Under the direction of its Creative Arts and Volunteer Manager, Raniere, children at the Museum created large and colorful table doilies out of squares of recycled brailled paper that they covered with finger paints and attached to each other with knotted lengths of scarlet yarn.

The doilies coordinated well with the checkered tablecloths and bud vases filled with daisies assembled by Julie LeMay, as the photo, below, shows.

You’ll be entertained in unforgettable and unusual ways at the Louis Braille School Benefit Auction on Saturday afternoon, March 21st, from 1:00 to 3:00 pm, in the South County Senior Center along the waterfront in downtown Edmonds at 220 Railroad Avenue.

The SeaSharps, one of Seattle’s finest barbershop quartets, will sing tight harmonies and beautiful melodies that appeal to all ages.

We’re bringing a hand-cranked ice cream maker to the auction for you to take a turn at creating a fresh dessert and eating it.

Puppies in training for Guide Dogs for the Blind will put on a demonstration. Pet them and watch how they begin to get a foundation as working dogs.

Inhale the fragrance of tomatoes, olive oil, and pizza crust topped with delicacies, both of the meat and vegetarian kinds, from Pagliacci Pizza. And try what many top food critics consider America’s finest gourmet sodas, supplied by the Dry Soda Company in downtown Seattle, made from the finest natural fruits, herbs, and flowers.

Enjoy all the activities while supporting the work of the Louis Braille School. It’s a wonderful arrangement when your money goes to the education of blind and partially sighted children while you can purchase a gift or practical item for yourself or a loved one.

With your chance to obtain something you want or need at a better-than-usual price, our auction items are especially attractive in the current economy.

If you’d like to get away for a trip, we have lodgings at the Inn at Cannon Beach (Oregon), weekend admission and camping passes for the Darrington Bluegrass Festival (in July), and a ride on the Chehalis Steam Engine Train.

Restaurant gift certificates for American, Greek, Japanese, French, health food, Thai, and other cuisines.

Premium compost and mulch, delivered to your home. Those aren’t the only delivery opportunities. How about hormone-free, home-delivered milk, cheese, and eggs?

Artworks. Cultural events. Clothing. Beauty and body care products. Jams and jellies. Husky football tickets. And a ride on an Edmonds fire truck.

Join us. You won’t forget the entertainment, you’ll help make homemade ice cream, pet puppies, and take home something you’re happy with. And you’ll know you’re supporting good, important work that makes a difference in the lives of blind and partially sighted kids.

Visit Auction Donations Online to preview items available for bidding. Questions? Call Eric 425 778-2384.

Have you ever spent a Saturday afternoon making homemade ice cream by turning a crank while a barbershop quartet serenades you and people all around you have been happily bidding on auction items that include a ride on a fire truck, a lesson from a makeup artist who has worked with some of the best known names in Hollywood, artisan bread from one of Seattle’s finest bakeries, gourmet natural sodas, premium garden compost, and brailling services?

There’s more.

You’ll be able to pet puppies in training for Guide Dogs for the Blind. And—ferry traffic between Edmonds and Kingston will pass by the picture windows of the South County Senior Center, where the Louis Braille School’s 2009 Annual Benefit Auction takes place along the waterfront.

When you join us on Saturday, March 21st, from 1:00 to 3:00 pm, you can participate in both a silent and live auction. Enjoy a fragrant slice of Pagliacci’s pizza with the waters of Puget Sound just yards away. The day will be memorable, the items up for auction will be varied and useful, and your participation will serve to support the Louis Braille School’s heartfelt and productive approach to educating blind and partially sighted children:

The purpose of education for our children is the same
as it is for all children. It is to learn to live and love,
to lead full and joyful lives, and ultimately to use
one’s education and talents in the service of others.

For an example of a Louis Braille School experience, read our recent blog article, “Watching Things Grow.”

–The 2009 Louis Braille School Benefit Auction–
Saturday, March 21, from 1:00 to 3:00 pm. Live auction follows the silent auction.

220 Railroad Avenue – on the waterfront

Plenty of Parking Available at two large lots within easy walking distance:

Edmonds Bay Building, 51 West Dayton Street

Harbor Square, 120 West Dayton Street

Descriptions and images of auction items will be placed on the website as the auction date nears.

Auction Preview

Dairy Products Delivered to Your Door
Once a week for a month, Mark
Hanberg, the “Moo Man,” will deliver fresh dairy products from Smith Brothers Farms to your door. Select from milk, whipping cream and half & half, eggs and butter, Yami yogurt, sour cream, cream cheese, and cottage chesse, and Tillamook cheeses. Also available are fruit juices, coffee products, soy milk, and cookie dough. Mark will leave the items in an insulated porch box which he will supply, so you need not be home when he arrives. Delivery area: East to Highway 99; West to Puget Sound; North to 196th; South to Holman Road/105th in Seattle.
Donor: Mark Hanberg
Value: $54

“I have a profound belief in plants as being very therapeutic and very magical for kids,” Ginny Burger says.

Ginny came by the Louis Braille School last month to teach the students about planting bulbs.

A former high school biology teacher and now a master gardener, Ginny likes to plant bulbs and start gardens with elementary school children as a way of introducing them to a hands-on science lesson that embraces one of their all-time favorite playthings: dirt.

“I was touched by how fine it was that the kids get messy and dirty,” she says.

She brought protective table coverings in her car to keep classroom tabletops clean, but the teachers waved them off. “The teachers were so patient and encouraging,” she says.

“Their approach to the students was, ‘If you’re able to do this, do it for yourself.’ It was interesting to me to see the teachers work so hard to empower the students to do everything they could for themselves.”

Ginny had never worked with blind students before. The children at the Louis Braille School provided her with a new perspective on bulb planting.

“It’s a very tactile activity,” she says as she remembers one child’s experience. “He could feel the bulbs, feel the root even though it was dry, feel the start of the shoot, feel the soil.”

The students worked with tulip, daffodil, and crocus bulbs. They planted a fast-growing red amaryllis bulb with a sturdy stalk that is easy to feel.

Teachers’ assistant Miss Jennifer says, “It’s fun checking on the plants everyday. The kids get excited when there’s a little growth.”

Ginny also brought along paperwhite narcissus bulbs. “When the paperwhite narcissus bulbs bloom, they’re very fragrant,” Ginny explains, “so the kids will be able to smell as well as feel them.”

Students placed potting soil in pots—their favorite part of the job—and learned the proper depth bulbs should be planted beneath the surface of the soil.

They inserted toothpicks into other bulbs and suspended them over clear plastic cups. Then the cups were filled with enough water to reach the bottoms of the bulbs.

“The reason I like that,” Ginny says, “is that people can see [or feel] the roots growing, instead of them being hidden, which is a great learning experience.”

The children found a worm while working with the soil, and that started a conversation with Ginny.

“One of the tendencies of this generation is that if they find something in the soil that moves, they should kill it,” Ginny notes. “So we had a little talk about what worms do for the soil and why we should put the worm we found back into the pot.”

She laughs before adding, “That became a well-loved worm.”

The master gardener continued to marvel and learned a few things herself as the project concluded. If she thought it remarkable that the children were allowed to work with soil without any worry given to it falling on or over the table, she was also impressed by the same attitude as it carried over to wash-up time in the bathroom.

“I was struck by the way the teachers didn’t mind having to wipe down the bathroom walls because they were muddy,” says the former high school teacher and counselor. “It was a very calm atmosphere, which was intriguing to me.”

Teacher Miss Beckie summed it up: “Our table was full of dirt, the floor was full of dirt—but everyone had fun.”

Ginny also credits the students for not losing interest in the project. “Their attention was held for a whole hour,” she remembers.

Weeks after the planting project, the children not only are checking the growth of their plants, but shout and exclaim excitedly about how much they liked playing and learning with dirt.

It’s something they would probably do every day if given the chance.

They will have a least one more opportunity this year to feel their fingers in the soil. Ginny has invited them to visit her backyard wildlife habitat this spring.

It could turn out to be a story of dirt lovers in paradise.

What a great way to learn.

On January 14th, from 5:00 to 7:00 pm, the Louis Braille School hosted one of the monthly After Hours get-togethers for our local Chamber of Commerce here in Edmonds, WA. We knew it would be an unusual event for us. Most of the time we’re involved in fundraisers, but this was more of an open house kind of affair, a chance to mingle in a social setting, eat, and be entertained, along with having an opportunity to explain the school’s mission amidst a display of educational materials.

Chris Coulter entertained wonderfully by singing and playing the organ in our lobby, drawing from a repertoire that spans the entire 20th-century. Her performance reminded us the organ doesn’t get played nearly enough. Chris used to make her living by touring and playing in piano bars. She has enough stories to fill a good-sized book, and knows more songs than stories. Like most artists, she also appreciates fine victuals and partook with gusto of the tasty pizza from Pagliacci’s, gourmet soda from Dry Soda Co., and tomato-basil soup from Scott’s Bar & Grill that were offered to everyone at the After Hours.

Jennifer Wheeler was our hostess who greeted guests as they arrived. Her powers of congeniality are second to none. Guest after guest made a point of telling us how pleasant it was to be met at the entrance by Jennifer and converse with her as the evening went on.

As for our educational displays, many of the guests enjoyed sitting behind our braillers and trying to braille their own names with the help of simple written instructions for beginners. Special lenses fitted to eyewear that simulated visual impairment were also available for people to use.

Another display consisted of stuffed animals given to us by Bunny Arntzen of Kent. Bunny created natural surrounds for taxidermy animals. When her vision began to fail, she donated some the animals to the Louis Braille School in the hope that blind children would enjoy a hands-on understanding of wildlife their eyes could not see.

Mike, our friendly mailman, gave me a mid-afternoon preview of the reactions the display might provoke. My desk is visible to guests as they approach the school and look through the glass panes in the front door. The mailman had his head down a bit, looking at the day’s mail in his hand, and didn’t see the very large stuffed bobcat on my desktop until he was just a few yards away. I won’t exaggerate by claiming he jumped, but I can accurately report he stopped dead in his tracks and his eyes widened before he said “Whoa!” After he recovered, he helpfully suggested we make sure to store our taxidermy animals properly to avoid the experience he had years ago, when he purchased a home formerly owned by a taxidermist who had left behind examples of his work.

“The animals were in a rundown outbuilding and had gotten wet,” he said. “When the weather warmed up there were all sorts of things crawling around in their fur. I burned the whole shack down. Burned it to the ground.”

I thanked him for his concern (with a smile on my face that I hope wasn’t too crooked) as I thought about guests who’d be arriving in a few hours. Thankfully, no animals moved—either of their own volition or from unexpected tenants in their fur.

Another unforgettable sight invariably eliciting a ‘Wow!’ from guests were two slabs of focaccia bread donated by Essential Baking Company of Seattle. I describe them as “slabs” because they came straight off the baking pans, uncut, and measuring more than two feet long and a foot-and-a-half wide. Essential also gave us a few artisan loaves to serve as door prizes. Brett Wheeler, one of our students, determined the winners by drawing business cards the guests had deposited in a glass bowl. Lucky Lew Lemire, pictured below, was one of the winners and took home a salted loaf filled with rosemary.

Barbara Mercer won a loaf filled with olives. She got a big laugh from the crowd by telling Brett, “Thank you for drawing my card. I never win anything!”

I’d forgotten to ask the bakery for paper sleeves, so Carolyn Meyer, our school’s Director, cleverly improvised by using large mailing envelopes. It was one of many spontaneous actions of the evening that made the event fun and memorable.

Brett’s sister, 7-year-old Lyndsey, won hearts as the evening’s popcorn girl, single-handedly turning out mounds of hot buttered popcorn for the crowd. Lyndsey is mature for her age. She’s unflappable and very comfortable around adults. When our in-house popcorn machine—which has no on/off switch—started spewing out too large a torrent of popcorn, Lyndsey had the presence of mind to calmly pull the plug from the socket. It was all any adult could have done.

The After Hours was successful in many ways. A number of people said they wanted to support the Louis Braille School in the future, be it as volunteers, gift-makers, donating material goods, or helping to create new fundraisers. The evening confirmed what we knew in advance: That face-to-face interaction is the best way to present the work of the school to people and to establish or deepen our relationships within the community. One of our guests, Susan Colton, put it best in an email she sent us the day after the event:

“I liked meeting one of the families [of one of the students], and also business community members. I’m sure a lot of effort went in to putting it together. However, you managed to create the feeling as if it were a home visit with family and friends.”

The twenty or so bags of food donations collected in front of the Edmonds QFC by Ethan, Brett, and Jordan on December 9th and 11th were temporarily stored in the lobby of the Louis Braille School. The pile grew in size after the boys were taken back to the supermarket to spend the $125 of donated cash on more food.

All three students were excited on the morning of Monday, December 15th, the day we had arranged to drive them to the Edmonds United Methodist Church on 828 Caspers Street, so they could deliver the donations to the food bank in person. There were three vehicles in our caravan. Jordan’s mother, Michelle, and his two sisters, Kiley and Gracie, joined us.

We arrived after lunch and were met by Peggy Kennedy, Director of the Food Bank, and Mark Harrison, a photographer for the Seattle Times newspaper. Everyone pitched in to help load the donated food into shopping carts provided by the food bank (see photo, above). A different photograph of the boys, showing them pushing carts into the food bank’s main room, appeared in the Seattle Times the following day of Tuesday, December 16th, on page B-2.

When Peggy was informed over the phone that our students would be making a delivery on Monday, she immediately offered to give them a tour once they had finished dropping off the donated food. We all enthusiastically accepted her invitation.

Peggy walked us through sorting and storage rooms. The kids entered coolers and freezers. All the while she spoke about the work of the food bank, and that was quite a day’s lesson for the students (and the rest of us).

We learned the food bank had been serving 225 to 250 families per week before Thanksgiving. For Thanksgiving week they served 399 families. “The miracle is, we did not run out of anything,” Peggy said. “For Christmas,” she added, “we’ll give a two-week supply [of food] to more than 300 families.”

Peggy told the boys, “You can be very proud of yourselves because you’ve helped feed a lot of hungry people.”

Everyone listened with interest as she went on to say there are 110 volunteers working for the food bank. Some of them sort or pack food, others make numerous trips each month to collect food donations from supermarkets.

“We work and have a lot of fun,” Peggy said. “Some of us have been here for 20 years. We’re like an extended family.” She got a big laugh as she added, “You don’t have to be crazy to work here. We’ll train you.”

Later, when we returned to the Louis Braille School, the students and teachers emphatically agreed that the food drive and tour were worthwhile.

“I liked pushing the carts!” Brett boomed.

“I’m glad that we donated food to the food bank. It was a great experience,” a happy Jordan said.

“Thank you [for helping us help the food bank]” Ethan told the teachers and staff.

Teacher Beckie was proud of her students. “It was a good experience for the children to learn why people go to the food bank,” she said. “It’s awesome to know these boys helped so many people and families.”

Jennifer said, “I couldn’t believe the number of people the food bank helps, the size of some families receiving the help [Peggy Kennedy mentioned one family with 15 children], and how organized the workers are. I’m glad the boys got to hear about the people they’ve helped. They were excited all the way from collecting to delivering the food.”

Teacher Dianne approved of the boys’ follow-through. “I think it’s wonderful the children could see the culmination of what they started,” she said.

A few days after the tour, I called Peggy Kennedy and she had some additional words of praise. “The children have so much to deal with in their lives and it doesn’t seem to be slowing them down at all,” she said. “I thought they were fabulous. It was just amazing to me. I was amazed at how well they interacted with everyone. They went out and did a fantastic job. They’re all little charmers.”

People wishing to volunteer at the Food Bank are asked to come in on a Monday morning. Various tasks must be done. The staff will help you find one you like.

Donations of food may be left inside two large doors on the west side of the church between 9 am and 8 pm. Cash donations can be given to the staff in the upstairs office.

The runs the food bank at 828 Caspers Street in Edmonds. The phone numbers for more information are: 425-778-5833 (Food Bank)   425-778-2119 (Church Office).

No one who saw Brett, Ethan, and Jordan collecting food in front of the Edmonds QFC on December 9th and 11th will ever forget them. The activity began with a good sign—literally and figuratively. The literal sign was a poster written by teacher Beckie that read, ‘Help Us Help Others. Food Bank Drive.’

The figurative sign was authored by fate. Carolyn Meyer, our school’s Director, went inside the store to find a means of securing the poster to the legs of the card table that our donation boxes rested on. When she asked a check-out stand cashier for a roll of adhesive, a customer standing in line pulled a tape dispenser out of his grocery bag and handed it to her.

Teachers Beckie and Dianne, with assistance from Jennifer, made sure the boys were warm and comfortable in the chilly weather. The three students took up positions in front of the QFC market directly across the street from the Louis Braille School. There they solicited donations verbally and by handing out flyers to shoppers entering and exiting the building. The large boxes set upon the card table to hold donations had explanations taped to them which read:

The Louis Braille School students are asking for your help! We are collecting non-perishable food for the local food bank to help those in need in our community this season. Please donate and help us with our project of helping others.

The presence of television news cameramen who covered the food drive for Seattle stations KING-5 and KOMO-4 confused or intimated some shoppers at first, although the boys were glad for the attention and for the chance to put on earphones and hold the microphone.

Nationwide, news media recently have been reporting a drop in food bank donations at a time when increasing numbers of people need help with feeding their families. Within that context, Jordan, Ethan, and Brett were unusually successful. They spent 45 minutes collecting donations each of the two days they were at QFC, for a total of one-and-a-half hours. In that brief time, people responded with what amounted to about 20 full shopping bags of groceries and $125 in cash. Some shoppers who donated food did so by returning to the store after initially exiting.

I saw more than one person look at the boys with a real-life poignancy that Hollywood actors can only hope to approximate. One man came out of the market with no groceries at all. He saw the boys, but kept walking. Then he slowed his step, stopped, and turned back to watch and listen for a minute. Perhaps he read the poster. In any case, he lightly shook his head, walked towards the boys, opened his wallet, and left a generous donation for the food bank. It was obvious that something opened inside himself first.

All of us had seen the cameramen genuinely enjoying the company of our students and teachers. After the food drive story was broadcast on KING-5 and KOMO-4 during the evening of December 11th,  I took the unusual step of re-contacting the cameramen and asking them to write about their impressions of that day.

Here are their notes:

“I was impressed [by] what great kids they are. It was wonderful to see [them] putting their own issues aside and doing something to help their community. It was very apparent their teachers care very deeply about them. What a warm and nurturing environment the school provides to the students. Keep up the good work.”
—Bryan Hollowell  KOMO-4 TV News  

“Sometimes I get to do something fun.  As a television news photographer I have the opportunity to observe and witness many fascinating subjects and events.  Not all of them are pleasant.  Each fun shoot seems to be balanced with too many sad stories or heavy stories about our current economy or Iraq. 

“Last week I found myself on a story that made me forget all the nonsense and remember how special individual people can be.  While most of us are tangled up in deciding what presents to get during the holidays, I met a group of students and teachers that were thinking about others this Christmas season.

“The students of the Louis Braille School took the time to ask for donations at an Edmonds grocery store that ended up going to the local food bank.  While each of these students has [his] own set of hurdles [in] everyday life, they were enthusiastically working the folks for donations and thanking everyone they met either way.

“I did interviews with the students and one of the teachers and they gave me great sound bites for our news story.  I appreciate all of them taking the time to talk to me and help me tell the story of that event.  I was reminded of the principle of Ujima and the spirit of Kwanza that the students were studying* and left feeling pretty good about the rest of my day.  I wish I could have stayed longer and seen how many goodies they collected. I just wanted to say good job to the Louis Braille school and thank you for giving me a good news day.”  
—David Wike,  KING-5 TV News 

And what did Ethan, Jordan, and Brett do in the wake of all this attention?

They wrote ‘thank you’ notes to QFC for giving them the opportunity to collect food donations for the hungry.

*See a previous blog post, ‘We’re Going to the Food Bank,‘ for more on Ojima.

“I’ve always thought it was good for non-profits to work together and not feel they have to be separate,” said Barbara Chase on a recent visit to our school. “I think we all benefit when people with similar interests work together.”

Barbara certainly has put her beliefs into practice for the Louis Braille School.

A master gardener belonging to Edmonds in Bloom — a local non-profit organization with a mission to improve the floral beauty of our city — she persuaded the group’s board members to donate the resources necessary to obtain an attractive wooden planter box, fill it with colorful fall foliage, and place it in front of the school a few weeks ago.

“I think beautifying the school is uplifting for the students, staff and for the parents that come in,” she said.

Barbara also contacted members of local Cub Scout Pack 300 and Boy Scout Troop 301, who, along with their parents, recently made two trips to the Louis Braille School to clear leaves from our parking lot and rain gutters, do some weeding, and begin the process of removing moss from the roof.

Barbara first became known to locally accomplished gardeners after entering an Edmonds in Bloom gardening competition. The judges were impressed with her work and eventually asked her to join the organization’s board.

For our 2007 and 2008 benefit auctions, she allied with Edmonds in Bloom to offer services described in last spring’s auction catalog this way:

Get a peek at some of Edmonds’ most beautiful backyards during the 2008 Edmonds in Bloom Garden Tour on Sunday, July 18, 2008.

Add to that a one hour consultation with Master Gardener Barbara Chase to help you with your yard and garden.

One of the winning bidders asked Barbara to advise her on growing plants in planter containers on the balcony of her condominium.

“You need to do things in a different way [for containers] than you do in a garden,” she said.

The other winner was an experienced gardener whose wife had very different ideas from his when it came to designing their garden.

“They asked my opinion about whether or not they should take out certain things,” Barbara recalled. “Sometimes people like someone other than themselves to say it’s okay to take out something they’re afraid to remove.

“But we live in the great Northwest, where everything grows very quickly. So I have to tell people, ‘Yes, it’s okay to take out that plant, because you’ll be able to grow five others in its place,’” she said, and laughed.

“There’s something about what happens when you watch things grow,” she added. “You put a little seed in the ground, later you divide plants and give some to other people when you have an excess, and you see them thrilled by their Shasta Daisies when they first start. Beginning gardeners like to have something that looks good right away. Then after that, you need a little more patience.”

If we’re lucky, Barbara will offer a consultation for our next auction (on March 21, 2009) and you can bid on her gardening knowledge to help you plan the best ways to watch things grow.