July, 2008

Port of Manchester User Survey

Many thanks to all the volunteers!

Additional dates for the summer series of the User Survey will be July 12th, August 16th, and September 13th -  4am to 5pm at the boat launch and 10am to 5pm at Pomeroy Park.  Volunteers are needed for both areas - it worked well last time with 2 to 3 hour shifts and everyone had a good time.   Contact  Bud & Wanda Larsen at bwlarsen@wavecable.com if you can help out.

How BIG is your footprint?

Have you ever wondered how much "nature" your lifestyle requires?  The Ecological Footprint Quiz estimates the amount of land and ocean area required to sustain your consumption patterns and absorb your wastes on an annual basis. 

This quiz is based on national consumption averages and is meant to give you an idea of your ecological footprint relative to other people in the country you live in.

Although the quiz is not flexible enough to account for all possible lifestyles and circumstances, the 27 questions provide a reasonable estimate for most people. The quiz also gives you an idea of your ecological footprint relative to a sustainable footprint, which is simply the Earth’s biological carrying capacity expressed in global hectares or global acres divided by its population. The latest global footprint calculations show this sustainable footprint level to be 15.71 global hectares or 43 global acres. 

To take the quiz, go to:  www.myfootprint.org

This is another website you can visit that asks you to let them know what your "one thing" is that you are doing to reduce your footprint.  Every little bit helps - even if we all just do "one thing."

http://seattle.1thingus.com/

We would love to hear from you on this as well!

Let us know how you have reduced your consumption practices.  We'll revisit this subject every now and then here in the newsletter and share the ideas. We can all learn from each other!

Write to us (Arlene & Helen) at info@manchesterwa.org.

Want to learn more?

 This website has links to all sorts of different calculators - from ecological footprints, to electricity, travel, fuel and mileage calculators:

http://www.ecobusinesslinks.com/ecological_footprint_calculator.htm

JUST A REMINDER... THE FIREWORKS RULES HAVE CHANGED - FIREWORKS CAN ONLY BE DISCHARGED BETWEEN 11AM AND 11PM ON THE FOURTH OF JULY.

(CHAPTER 10.48.010)

Click here to go to the Kitsap County Code webpage.

Another Successful Salmon Bake!

This year marked the 40th year for the Salmon Bake!  The Friends of the Manchester Library served about 750 people with guest servers including: Sheriff Steve Boyer, Jan Angel, Derek Kilmer and a host of other candidates for office.  There were more than 40 volunteers who did everything from bake cookies to cleaning dirty dishes and included two chefs from Amy's who portioned the salmon! 

The funds raised (more than $5000) will go toward the operational expenses of the Library building and programming (this all costs about $25,000 per year).  The Friends of the Manchester Library (a non-profit group) owns the building and must pay for the operation of the building including the lights, water, sewer, garbage, cleaning, etc. 

Sponsorship of the Salmon Bake was provided by: Amy's by the Bay, Kitsap Bank, Airport Diner, Edward Jones (Ron Rada), Manchester Medical, Waste Management, Fred Meyer, Starbucks, Wiley's, and Hi Joy Bowl.  These donors helped to substantially offset the cost of the Salmon.

This year the Friends of the Manchester Library got a grant of $4000 from the Fred Meyer Fund (Foundation) which will be used to help offset the cost of the Summer Reads program throughout all of Kitsap County.
 

Many thanks to all the sponsors and volunteers who helped out!

Instead of the regular meeting format in June, the MCC held a celebration of the completion of the Manchester Plan update and a "town meeting" forum for community members to provide input to the MCC.  The event was held on Sunday June 22 at the Family Inn, complete with appetizers and a suggestion box where people could write their opinions and suggestions.  More than a dozen members of the community turned out for the occasion and it was a very nice little gathering.  Many thanks for the Family Inn for hosting the event.
 

Upcoming Events at Manchester Library 

Tuesday July 15, 2008
10:30 AM  Summer Reading Program
 "Last Leaf Productions" 

7:00 PM  Manchester BookWorms       

March by Geraldine Brooks

The Pulitzer prize-winning author of Year of Wonders creates a story of the Civil War as seen through the character Captain March, a recreation of the absent father from Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women.

Call the library for more information. Newcomers always welcome!

Thursday July 24, 2008

6:30 PM  Kitsap Regional Library Board of Trustees Meeting 
Open to the public, all welcome.

Friday July 25, 2008
6:30 PM  Teen Mystery Night       
A crime has been committed.  Think you can figure out Who-Dun-It?
Pre-registration required.  Costumes encouraged.  Sponsored by the KRL Foundation.

Tuesday July 29, 2008
10:30 AM  Summer Reading Program
"Mary Shaver Marionettes" 

MCA Street Cleanup Day

Saturday, May 31st dawned sunny and warm, a promising day for a roadside cleanup!  We had 9 volunteers appear bright and early for the Manchester Community Association's semi-annual street clean-up.  We out-did ourselves this time!  We cleaned 5 streets of Manchester, more than 11 miles of roadway, 23 bags of garbage; found several cans of paint, and even a tire was retrieved! 

A big thanks to  Phil Paquette, Eric Cisney, Jim Stephens, John Winslow, Steve Pedersen, Lyle and Denise Burbidge and Diane Jaber (who tackled Alaska Street almost single-handedly!)   The Burbidges cleaned Beach Drive from Main to the entry to the Fuel Depot!  John, Eric, Jim and Steve cleaned Colchester and California Streets!  Phil did Main Street (otherwise known as "heart-attack hill".) and also took care of disposing of the bags of garbage. 

A huge "THANK YOU" to all the volunteers!   And a special Thank You to Kitsap County Public Works, Kevin Bevelheimer, for all the assistance and support to our community.  I can't tell you how much I appreciate the dedication of all those who take part in our street cleanups. 

~ Debby Trudeau
Cleanup Day Organizer

Citizen Alert

Recent Vehicle Prowls

In the last 2 weeks there have been a series of vehicle prowls in the South Kitsap County/City of Port Orchard area.  Suspects have been arrested and many items have been recovered.  If you are a victim of a recent vehicle prowl and have not reported it, please do so by calling 9-1-1 first.  You can recover your stolen items by calling Detective Birkenfeld with KCSO at 337-7111.

Posted by the Port Orchard Police Department

McGuire & Associates Tax Service

You never know about tax accountants.  The old image of the green eye shade and a 10 key is not necessarily the whole picture.  Joe McGuire had a dream as a young man to major in Sociology and “save the world.”  But life has a funny way of taking us off on new paths, and Joe ended up getting into computer programming and designing an income tax system.

Joe’s wife, Pat, was from West Settle and they realized that where they really wanted to live was not in New Jersey, but on the west coast.  Now Joe can sit on his deck in Manchester and look across at the AT&T building where he used to work. It seems as far from New Jersey to Seattle as it is from Seattle to Manchester.

Joe started his own tax accounting business with the intent of providing tax minimization with absolute integrity.  In other words, his clients can expect to pay the least taxes possible and yet be fair to the government.  Joe likes to sleep at night.  His clients include small corporations, sole proprietorships and individuals.  He has even done a return for a homeless man who was living in his car in Manchester.  Who says his dream of saving the world hasn’t happened – one poor person at a time?

He charges his clients based on the total amount of work involved in completing a return, not on the total tax return amount.  Everyone is welcome to stop in and ask Joe a tax related question, and there will be no charge. His office is located downtown Manchester at 2288 Colchester. However, for a regular appointment, call 360-871-6781 or email mcguire&associates@wavecable.com.

The "Newsletter" is written by Helen Robinson and Arlene Brennan and does not reflect the opinions of any of the community groups associated with this website.  It is meant as an informal way of letting other members of the community know what is going on in town.  Arlene is the webmaster and would be happy to hear from you if you have any information that you would like to provide for the newsletter.  Please feel free to use the "Contact Us" page on this website, or write to info@manchesterwa.org.