PORT ANGELES — Seventh- and eighth-graders will be at the Port Angeles Library, 2210 S. Peabody St., at 6:30 p.m. Monday for the 2015 Clallam County PoetrySLAM.
SLAM contestants will read their original work and compete for prizes that include a Samsung Galaxy 4 Tab and gift certificates to area bookstores.
In recognition of National Poetry Month, the library’s annual PoetrySLAM encourages young adults to express themselves through poetry. Contestants in this culminating event represent the winners of several elimination rounds held in local classrooms and at the library.
The PoetrySLAM is made possible through the support of the Port Angeles Friends of the Library.
The event is free and open to the public.
For more information about this and other programs for youths, visit www.nols.org or contact the library at 360-417-8500, ext. 7733, or youth@nols.org.
Grief support
SEQUIM — Volunteer Hospice of Clallam County is offering a five-week grief support group series at Trinity United Methodist Church, 100 S. Blake Ave., from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. beginning this Monday and ending Monday, May 25.
The program is free and open to the public.
Registration is required, as group size is limited.
To register, phone the hospice office at 360-452-1511.
Diabetes benefit
PORT ANGELES — A bunco dice game fundraiser for diabetes research is planned for next Thursday.
The “Roll the Dice Against Diabetes” event will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Port Angeles Senior & Community Center, 328 E. Seventh St.
Tickets are $10 at the door.
All proceeds will go to the American Diabetes Association for diabetes research, organizer Janet Young said.
A 50-50 drawing will be held at the event. Prizes, beverages and snacks will be available.
A diabetic herself, Young led a successful fundraiser with the city of Port Angeles that purchased state-of the-art playground equipment for Shane Park in west Port Angeles in 2011.
Bunco is a parlor game played in teams with three dice in which players try to roll a target number.
Composting fines
SEATTLE — Seattle residents who toss food waste in the trash won’t get fined this summer as originally planned.
Seattle Mayor Ed Murray says he is suspending fines for households and businesses that don’t compost. The earliest fines may be issued is Jan. 1.
Murray said Wednesday he wants more time and additional outreach to educate people about the new recycling rules.
Last fall, the city passed an ordinance prohibiting food in garbage. Homeowners found with excess food in their trash would be fined $1 for each violation. The fine is up to $50 for a business or apartment complex.
Collectors began tagging garbage bins with warnings in January. Fines were scheduled to start July 1.
The mayor said the new composting program is working and the city is on track to hit its 60 percent recycling goal.
Meeting on HU song setthis Sunday
SEQUIM — There will be a community HU song gathering in the Sequim Library’s meeting room, 630 N. Sequim Ave., at 10:15 a.m. Sunday.
This event is free and open to the public.
The HU song is an ancient invocation used to open the consciousness to the light and sound of God, resulting in mystical experiences, spiritual insights and states of enlightenment and inner peace, according to a news release.
For more information, email George Abrahams at justbe973@gmail.com or phone 360-582-3067.
Inner guidance
SEQUIM — An inner guidance discussion and discovery workshop, “Are Inner Guides Real?,” will take place in the Sequim Library meeting room, 630 N. Sequim Ave., at 11 a.m. Sunday.
The event is free and open to the public.
This is an open discussion followed by a personal discovery process to explore the innate relationship each person has with spiritual guidance for insight, protection and divine love.
The spiritual discussion is sponsored by students of Eckankar and is offered as a free community service for people of all faiths, cultures and backgrounds.
For more information, phone George Abrahams at 360-809-0156 or email justbe973@gmail.com.
Unity speaker
PORT ANGELES — Unity in the Olympics, 2917 E. Myrtle St., will hold a 10:30 a.m. service Sunday featuring the Rev. Deborah Brandt, whose lesson will be “The Care and Feeding of a Human Being.”
Brandt is an award-winning journalist who spent more than 30 years in broadcasting. She is an ordained metaphysical minister.
Child care is available during the service.
A brief time for silent meditation will be held from 10 a.m. to 10:15 a.m.
The next Sunday, May 3, a potluck will follow the worship service.
The board of trustees will provide meat and vegetarian entrees.
Participants should bring a side dish or dessert to share.
All are welcome to attend all church activities.
Taize service set
SEQUIM — All are welcome to the ecumenical Taize service at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 525 N. Fifth Ave., at 7 p.m. Monday.
There will be a meditative, candlelit atmosphere that includes singing simple, repetitive songs during the hourlong service.
Taize will continue to be held the fourth Monday of each month.
Women in military
PORT TOWNSEND — Sarah L. Blum, a decorated nurse Vietnam veteran, will present “Women Under Fire: Abuse in the Military” at Quimper Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 2333 San Juan Ave., at 7 p.m. Saturday, May 2.
Blum is a spiritual warrior who has been on a conscious spiritual path for 30 years, according to a news release.
She interviewed 60 women veterans from World War II up to current day and will share what she learned and what is needed now.
The event is sponsored by ALPs and the Social Justice Council.
Blum will sign books at the conclusion of her presentation.
For more information, phone 360-379-0609.
