, ,

First Friday: All Invited to Play CLUE in Downtown Camas Tonight

Camas, WA — Many of you love the game CLUE and now is your chance to play the First Friday version! Join in the “Case of the Missing Cupcakes” today from 5-8 pm. Dress in CLUE inspired game suspects attire and get extra tickets to win!

First Friday Activities:

  • Find fun clues in participating merchants to solve the “Case of the Missing Cupcakes” and earn tickets to win prizes!
  • Get a FREE mini-cupcake sponsored by Cake Happy when you solve the mystery!
  • Art Receptions & Shows at Camas Gallery and Attic Gallery!
  • Enjoy the movie “Clue” at the Liberty Theatre – Friday 1/4/18, show time will be 8pm … don’t forget the popcorn!
  • Fun Kid’s winter crafts and Lego table
  • Get 5 free tickets to win if you dress like one of the characters in the Parker Brothers “CLUE” game!
  • Earn extra tickets to win with every $10 spent in downtown!
TWO Ribbon cuttings! Come welcome Lori and Tyson from The Artful Attic as we celebrate the ribbon cutting for their new shop at 5 pm. Salon Magnolia will also have a ribbon cutting to celebrate their spa addition – their ribbon cutting will be at 5:30 pm.

New menu launch with tequila pairings at Mesa!

Friday

New menu at Nuestra Mesa launches today.

ALSO: You can also pick up your panels (if still available! Come early at 5pm–we only have a few sets left!)) for the “Little Art Camas” event at the DCA table in Journey Church (please bring your completed form).

Start your night at the DCA tables at Journey at 4th and Birch.

 

 

/0 Comments/by
, ,

Small Business Revolution’s “Main Street” Team Visits Camas

Camas, WA — For a 24-hour period (Wednesday-Thursday) nine members of Small Business Revolution’s “Main Street” web TV series team quickly became acquainted with Camas leaders, business owners, and residents in their first of ten small town stops across the country.

The objective of their visit was to learn about Mill Town’s history, its accomplishments, and struggles with the purpose of choosing a town to be featured in season four of their hit web TV show. Camas was nominated by Attic Gallery owner, Maria Gonser, who thought Camas would be a good fit.

Mill Town was ultimately chosen as a Top 20 city out of 12,000 nominations, and on December 11, show co-host, Amanda Brinkman, announced that Camas was a Top 10 pick.

Brinkman and fellow team members, who work for Deluxe, which is based in Minnesota, arrived in Camas Wednesday just before noon, and at 12:30 they gathered at the Georgia-Pacific Mill Interpretive Center to learn about local history, and discuss local successes, as well as current struggles.

The team included Brinkman; Cameron Potts, VP of Public Relations; Julie Gordon, Director of Marketing Partnerships; Katie Cerney, Director of Social Media Strategy — Small Business Division; Jessica Jones, Social Media Manager; cameramen Mike Thompson, and Dan; Jenna Paulus, Public Relations Manager; and Jake Anderson, who works for Fast Horse Public Relations firm.

Following their initial meeting, the “Main Street” team executed a strategy and schedule that was designed to maximize their time, which comprised previously scheduled long video interviews, spontaneous short video interviews, and free form visits to local businesses.

Camas

Dawn Stanchfield, owner of Lily Atelier, shows her store to Julie Gordon, who is the Director of Marketing Partnerships at Deluxe.

Early stops included visits to Urban Style, Lily Atelier, Camas Antiques, Caps ‘N Taps, Flow Hot Yoga, Arktana, The Wild Hair, Mill City Brew Werks, Nest and Love Photography, Natalia’s Cafe, Nuestra Mesa, and several others. They greeted people on the street, spent time getting to understand businesses, and filmed a large portion of their efforts. They made a point to visit as many shops, restaurants, and boutiques as time allowed, and were greeted warmly by a large crowd at Grains of Wrath at 6 pm.

During that visit, Brinkman explained the purpose of their visit, which is to explore each Top 10 town, with the goal of announcing Top 5 contenders in mid-February.

“She’s a marketing expert that helps you think out of the box,” said Carrie Schulstad, Executive Director of the Downtown Camas Association (DCA) as she introduced Brinkman. “She’s inclusive, she’s creative, she gets it. She cares about your success, and we feel so honored that you’re here in our town.”

The excited crowd listened to a brief message from Brinkman, and then spent the next two hours greeting the team members and getting to know how they work.

”First of all, we thank you so much for this reception,” said Brinkman. “This is incredible! We also want to thank you guys for going first … I like to think of it that you are already raising the bar!”

She recognized her “Main Street” team members and then explained how the process works.

”I am just one part of this incredible team from Deluxe who runs Small Business Revolution,” said Brinkman. “I’m only one part of the decision-making process so you have to woo and impress these guys just as much.”

During the reception at Grains, Gordon spent nearly 30 minutes with the Camas High School DECA team listening to their ideas and answering marketing questions. Brinkman also pulled them aside to discuss business.

”They’re such a talented group of kids,” said Gordon. “They had some great ideas.”

The “Main Street” team was back at it Thursday morning meeting with DCA and Camas city leaders, and then spent their remaining two hours conducting final interviews, and visiting as many shops as they could. Gordon spent time on 3rd Avenue with Salud Wine Co, A Beer at a Time, Artful Attic, Los Jalepenos, and Camas Gallery. Potts visited Elida Art Studio. Jones interviewed The Wild Hair, and Brinkman interviewed Natalia’s Cafe, and paid a visit to Camas Gallery. Many other visits surely happened.

”We make a point to visit as many businesses as we can,” said Brinkman. “We want to learn as much as possible, to hear about their struggles and see where they need help.”

Cerney said she’s looking forward to returning in April for a guaranteed marketing seminar for local businesses.

”I love this town,” she said. “It’s like being in a Hallmark Channel movie. I can’t wait to come back.”

To learn more, visit www.smallbusinessrevolution.org

/0 Comments/by
, ,

Local GOP Seeks Nominations For Clark County Council District 4 Seat

Clark County, WA — This notice is to solicit nominations for individuals who wish to appear before Clark County Republican PCOs to present themselves as candidates for the position of Clark County Council for District 4. Nominees must reside in County Council District 4 and be of the Republican Party.

Self-nominations should include full contact information and a statement that they are of the Republican Party and live within District 4. Nominations that are not self-nominations should include full contact information of the nominee with the attachment of a signed statement from the nominee that he or she agrees to serve if nominated.

The Clark County Auditor has certified the 2018 elections results and Eileen Quiring has been elected to the position of Clark County Council Chair. Ms. Quiring will take office as Clark County Council Chair on January 1, 2019, and at that time, she will vacate her seat as County Councilor for District 4.

Pursuant to Article II, Section 15 of the Washington State Constitution, the Clark County Republican Central Committee is required to nominate three (3) individuals as candidates. Pursuant to the state constitution, all nominees must: 1) reside in County Council District 4; and (2) be of the same political party as Ms. Quiring, namely the Republican Party. Nominations will be voted upon by Clark County Precinct Committee Officers on January 15. The names of the three individuals nominated will then be forwarded to the Clark County Council. Upon receipt of the names of the three nominees, the Clark County Council will review the nominees, conduct interviews in an open public session, and appoint one of the individuals to the office of Clark County Council District 4.

Any person interested in being considered for nomination by the Clark County Republican Party Central Committee must notify Clark County Republican Party Chairman Earl Bowerman in writing, and must be received no later than January 10, 2019 . Email notifications to [email protected] will be accepted and must be received no later than January 10, 2019. All nominations will be acknowledged within 12 hours with further information on the ensuing process; if acknowledgement is not received, notify Chair Bowerman by email. The mailing address of the Clark County Republican Party is P. O. Box 205, Vancouver, WA 98666.

/0 Comments/by
, , ,

“Main Street” TV Host, Film Crew To Visit Camas This Week

Camas, WA — Amanda Brinkman, host of The Small Business Revolution’s “Main Street” web TV series, and several members of their talented film crew will be visiting Camas this Wednesday and Thursday to see what makes Mill Town tick.

As part of their visit, city leaders will host the “Main Street” team at 6 pm Wednesday at Grains of Wrath, which is located in Downtown Camas. The public is invited to attend.

On December 11, Camas became a Top 10 contender to be chosen as the focus town for season four of their ground-breaking series, which is helping to reinvigorate small towns and businesses across the United States. They’re coming to Camas to learn about its accomplishments, history and current struggles. Following their visit, they will travel to Arlington, WA, another Top 10 contender, and all other cities on their list. Camas is their first stop.

”We have such a compelling story to tell,” said Carrie Schulstad, Executive Director of the Downtown Camas Association. “We have a great history and we’re also a town in transition with the mill closing in the next couple of years.”

Schulstad said she hopes that Camas will make Top 5. Once that happens, those five cities will be subject to national voting. It’ll be a matter of which city gets the most votes.

It’s also one reason why Camas citizens have been posting #MyCamas on their social media posts and sharing stories about what it’s like living in Mill Town. It’s also a reason why Lacamas Magazine continues to produce the #MyCamas videos.

”It’s about getting the word out about what an amazing place this is,” said Schulstad. “We also have many businesses who could use the help that the Small Business Revolution provides.”

The winner of the contest will be featured in Season 4, in which six businesses will receive a total of $500,000 in revitalization funds. The show features Brinkman, and Ty Pennington, of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” fame.

”I’m so excited they’re coming,” said Camas Mayor, Shannon Turk. “I really look forward to meeting them, and showing them what we’re all about.”

The crew arrives mid-day on Wednesday at a private reception, and then they will be visiting local shops and store owners to hear their stories.

Schulstad is also grateful to Maria Gonser, owner of Attic Gallery, who nominated Camas to appear on the show.

”Camas would be great for Season 4 of ‘Main Street,’” said Gonser. “There’s so much to see here, and we have some real struggles.”

To learn more, visit www.smallbusinessrevolution.org

 

 

/1 Comment/by
, ,

Update: California Fire Victims Receive RV From Camas Families

Camas, WA — “Mission accomplished,” said Ed Fischer, owner of Camas Bike and Sport in Downtown Camas. “We wrapped up with the local adopt-a-family here in Washougal, and what a nice family! And with the RV camper, the trip went smoothly and after the Chico DMV visit, we got the trailer up there right before nightfall and it was placed on the house pad where the lost home once sat. We did not get much of any time to take a look around, but the devastation was real and evident, and the recent flooding there really left the roads in shambles.”

When Fischer first heard about the Paradise, CA fires he became a big advocate in helping out, so he spent considerable time and money trying to locate a family that needed help, and would purchase an RV camper. But, even though his heart was in the right place, it ended up being a major challenge.

”I learned that it’s not easy to do all that stuff,” said Fischer. “It was very hard to organize, it took a lot of coordinating, planning, and communicating. There’s a lot more than the monetary portion. Procuring the trailer was very challenging. There were a lot of scams and misleading people out there, but ultimately we found a good trailer that would really help out this family.”

Fischer said about two-thirds of the cost of the RV was received through local donations following its purchase. He said many donations were $10, and one man gave $300.

Humane

www.McKeanSmithLaw.com

”Every amount helped,” said Fischer. “And, it was great to see all the support. All of it made this possible.”

Community members are contributed home essentials to fill the trailer, which was delivered several days ago.

Jeff Paul accompanied Fischer to California to deliver the trailer, and the two witnessed the fire’s devastation.

“It was amazing to see the random destruction, the fires took a few homes, then you’d see a couple that didn’t even look touched, then back to piles of debris where houses once stood.” said Fischer. “It really gave me a flashback to the fire’s I worked in back in Malibu in 1993, same thing happened where floods would come in soon after and reek further havoc on the area. In the end, the camper is now helping the family live on the property and rebuild, and it felt like we did the right thing for the right people! And last, could not have done it without all the support and contributions from so many that rallied around the cause. I didn’t get a lot of pictures because I want to respect people’s privacy. It wasn’t a staging photo moment. We got there kind of late, and the whole family wasn’t there.”

He also appreciates the local support of their adopt a family, who lives in Washougal.

/0 Comments/by
, ,

City of Camas Seeking Applicants for Vacant City Council Seat

Camas, WA — The City of Camas is now seeking eligible applicants from Ward 3 to fill the City Council vacancy left by Shannon Turk, who is now our Camas Mayor.

Think you might be a good fit? Please apply!

To be considered, your application must be complete and received by the City staff at Camas City Hall (616 NE 4th Avenue) no later than 5:00 pm on January 11, 2019. Additional written information after this date will not be accepted, unless requested by the City Council.

Please personally submit the following items:

  1. Signed application (see page 3 of link below).
  2. A one‐page cover letter indicating your interest and general qualifications for the position.
  3. A resume of no more than two pages.
  4. Answers to the Supplemental Questions of no more than two pages total (see page 4).
  5. Declaration and Affidavit of Candidacy

Inquiries and questions pertaining to this process or documentation should be directed to:

Peter Capell, City Administrator
616 NE 4th Avenue
Camas, WA 98607
Contact Phone: 360-834‐6864 Email Address: [email protected]

Eligibility, Requirements & Public Disclosure

To be eligible to be appointed to the Camas City Council, you:

  1. Must have continuously resided within the Camas city limits for a minimum of one year prior to your appointment to the Council.
  2. Must reside in Ward 3 where the opening exists.
  3. Must be a registered voter in the City of Camas.
  4. If you hold, participate in, or are involved in any contract(s) with the City of Camas, please explain your
    involvement in your cover letter.
  5. If you hold any other elected public office, please state what office and where in your cover letter.
  6. Please note that: Once a Council Member application is filed with the City, it is a public record available to the public.
  7. The applications received from all candidates who meet the minimum requirements of state law will be
    posted on the City of Camas website as part of the Council’s meeting packet the week of the initial
    interview.
  8. If appointed, you will be required by state law to file a personal financial disclosure statement with the
    Camas City Council Application. Washington Public Disclosure Commission (www.pdc.wa.gov)

> Full Details: https://goo.gl/SGMkdz

> Find Your Ward: https://goo.gl/PZR4C3 – Just click the Search tab and enter your address

> Map of Ward 3: https://goo.gl/frSwe7

> City Council Info: goo.gl/HN4qqx

Questions? Please contact City Administrator Pete Capell at 360-834‐6864 or [email protected]

/0 Comments/by
,

Nationally-Trained Youth Lead Advocacy Workshop for Local Teens

Vancouver, WA – Nearly 70 teens from three Southwest Washington counties will learn from nationally-trained youth leaders how individuals can make a difference in their communities through policy-making and laws. The Use Your Voice workshop, held at the Excelsior building of Washougal High School on December 21st, is completely led and organized by youth facilitators. Participants will experience working with decision-makers and government leaders.

Middle and high school students from Clark, Klickitat and Skamania Counties who attend the workshop will be invited to put their learning into practice in Olympia on Prevention Policy Day (February 18) by the Washington Association of Substance Abuse and Violence Prevention (WASAVP). They will have meetings with their own senators and representatives to share their youth voice around substance abuse, prevention and building healthy communities.

Youth facilitators presenting at Use Your Voice include:

• Madison Langer, Tobacco Free Kids Youth Ambassador
• Jesse Jimenez, Police Activities League Coordinator and Prevent Coalition Committee Chair
• Bridgette McCarthy, National Youth Leadership Initiative and Advocacy and Policy Training

Also, on the agenda is Washington State Representative Paul Harris to share a short speech about youth empowerment, using your voice and getting involved in government.

Hosted by Youth Now (an initiative of Prevent Coalition) this workshop is funded through the Washington State Department of Health dedicated marijuana account funding. This workshop is offered in partnership with Unite! Washougal Community Coalition. For more information about Unite! contact Margaret McCarthy [email protected], 360-954-3203, unitewashougal.org

Voice

About Prevent Coalition

Founded in 2006, Prevent Coalition is a group of diverse community members working together using an evidence-based framework to prevent youth substance abuse in Clark County, WA.  Working in collaboration with parents, youth, schools, media, business, government, faith communities, law enforcement, youth-serving organizations, civic groups, health care professionals, and prevention organizations, Prevent Coalition is focused on improving the environment surrounding youth to create a community culture that promotes prevention and honors healthy living. Find toolkits, resources, and information about addiction, prevention, and resilience for adults and youth at PreventCoalition.org

Voice

Listening at a past Use Your Voice workshop.

/0 Comments/by
, ,

Local Community Helps CHS Senior Exceed Toy Drive Donation Goals

Camas, WA — Camas High School (CHS) Varsity Track star, Blake Deringer, decided to do a cool thing for his CHS Senior Project: Organize a Christmas toy drive for local needy families.

So, with the help of the Camas Public Library, CHS, and Washougal Sport and Spine, who provided locations for donation barrels, Deringer organized the effort, and marketed his plan. His goal was to gather and deliver 200 toys for the local Family Resource Center. That number would help out 60 families.

Thanks to a giving community, Deringer exceeded his goal, and collected 270 toys. Way to go Camas and Washougal!

“It was truly an amazing experience, and to never have done anything like this before and have it be so great, was unbelievable,” said Deringer. “The support from the community was more than I could’ve imagined, and to deliver the toys to the resource center and see how happy they were knowing they’d be able to give kids in need toys for Christmas was a humbling experience.“

Deringer who runs track for CHS, and also played Varsity football, learned a lot from the project.

“I honestly just got involved with the resource center and thought this would be a cool senior project,” said Deringer. “I haven’t done a lot of service projects before and was amazed at how many people who are in need. I realized this is something I could get behind. Really, I had no idea there were so many people in our local community that are homeless or in need. It really blew my mind. It’s really humbling seeing people going there asking for things on a everyday basis. It’s nice that I can help with that a little bit. I will definitely continue working with them after my senior project.”

Toy

Delivering the toys.

Toy

Loading up the toys for delivery.

/0 Comments/by
, ,

Camas City Council OKs $195 Million Budget; Funds 5 New Firefighters

Camas, WA — The Camas City Council unanimously (absent Councilor Bonnie Carter) approved a $195 million biennial budget Monday night that includes funds for five new firefighters.

The meeting was a stark contrast from the previous council session  that had councilors deadlocked about firefighter funding. In question was the Washougal funding for their portion of the fire services, which is 40 percent. Washougal hasn’t committed to their portion.

“Congratulations. That was a little easier this time,” said Camas Mayor Shannon Turk following the official vote.

The new budget increases funding for salaries and benefits for the Camas-Washougal Fire Department (CWFD) and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) by $663,988 in 2019, and by an additional $273,518 in 2020. The budget includes money for four new firefighters, a new fire marshal, as well as a new vehicle.

“The new vehicle is a one-time expense,” said city administrator, Pete Capell.

As Camas accounts for 60 percent of the funding for CWFD and EMS, several councilors expressed dismay at the reality that Washougal isn’t footing their part of the bill. They were previously hesitant to absorb the total cost.

The local firefighters union has pressed the council for most of 2018 for more personnel to “adequately serve Camas,” said firefighter, Josh Proctor.

City Councilwoman Deanna Rusch has always expressed support for the new personnel, and Capell has said because of increased city revenues “this is a good time to expand city services to meet our growing demands.”

He said staffing has been mostly stagnant for many years.

Washougal is willing to pay for their share of the new firefighter’s expenses, but they simply don’t have the funds.

Following passage of the 2019-20 budget, CWFD Fire Captain Kevin West addressed the council.

“I wanted to thank you for recognizing the need for firefighters,” West said.

Camas citizens are likely going to be very happy about the decision, given public input on the issue.

/0 Comments/by
, ,

CRGE School Kindness Project Shines Light on Positive Behavior

Washougal, WA — Inspiration is all around Columbia River Gorge Elementary school, and a single kind act has grown into a school-wide Kindness Project to shine a spotlight on positive behavior.

“This all began with creation of a holiday giving tree at the school to help a few local families,” said Christa Kornoski, CRGE Booster.  “It was tagged with 30 gift requests that our school community would volunteer to purchase.  The tags were depleted in two days so we added more families and, by the end, had a total of 74 gift requests.  Every one of them were fulfilled!  This tree demonstrated to students what a caring, giving, and supportive community we have here.”

With the success of the giving tree, the Boosters began thinking about ways to extended kindness beyond holiday giving and create something that could involve every child.

“We began looking at ways of organizing and recognizing random acts of kindness,” Kornoski explained.  “A sample calendar featuring daily kind acts was brought to us by fellow Booster Laura Kelly and we loved the idea.” The group brainstormed simple things students could do at school or at home to develop three calendars; one for young children, one for older and one that is a combination.

“This is when we heard that two 5th grade girls, Grace Hack and Bella Bradford, were also working on creating a kindness initiative,” Kornoski said. “So, we integrated their ideas and energy with ours. They created the calendar for the 4th and 5th graders.  We felt that this idea would be more influential coming from peers rather than parents at the upper elementary grades.” Suggested items on the calendar include writing a thank you note to your bus driver, sitting with someone new at lunch and cleaning out your parent’s car.

The next step in the project was recognizing the kindness students were showing. This is where Steve the Snowman came in.

“Steve is a life-size paper snowman on the hallway wall at CRGE,” Kornoski explained. “Each act of kindness a student shows can be written on a snowball tag and attached to him for all to see.  The goal is to have Steve completely covered with snowballs.”

And it is working.  The month-long CRGE Kindness Project began November 25 and will continue until the start of Winter Break and Steve is so filled with tags of good deeds that a new Sally the Snowman has been added.  Each tag lists the student, their teacher, their kind action and can be written by the student themselves or by a teacher or student who witnessed someone doing something nice.  A random tag is picked each morning to be read during the school news broadcast.  “The classroom with the most acts of kindness will be interviewed by the school’s morning news on why kindness is so important to them,”’ Kornoski said. “We decided it was best to reinforce this behavior by recognition rather than rewards or prizes.”

The plan is to continue after winter break with a Kindness Leadership Club that will meet once a month with a spring event before the end of school.  “We want to encourage kindness as something that will be in students’ thoughts throughout the year,” Kornoski said.  Her hope is that they will take this momentum with them into middle school.

Preparing for middle school is on the minds of Hack and Bradford and they feel this club will help ease that transition by reminding students about the importance of kindness.  “There can be a lot of unkind things that go on in middle school,” Hack said. “This club will help students understand the importance of being kind and inspire them to do their best to treat people nice.”

“We also hope our efforts will grow to the point that we could qualify for a grant to implement a large community project,” said Bradford.

“One of our goals is to change the narrative to focus on the positive things people do rather than the negative behaviors,” Kornoski said.  “We want these students to understand that one kind act can make a significant difference in a person’s life.”

Kindness

Putting a spotlight on positive behavior.

/0 Comments/by