News in Brief

Habitat for Humanity home to be built
The first ever Habitat for Humanity project in the Blaine-Birch Bay area will get started on Saturday, May 31. There will be a lot dedication at 10 a.m. at 940 Cedar Street in Blaine, the new home of Mark and Debbie Heinzer and their family. Habitat held its first dinner and auction on May 10 at Semiahmoo Resort, and more than 300 people attended. The auction, lead by city manager Gary Tomsic, raised about $25,000. Anyone wishing to volunteer, should call 715-9170 or visit online at www.hfhwhatcom.org.

BTAC to hold public meeting
The Blaine Tourism Advisory Committee (BTAC) will host a public meeting on June 12 in order to review changes to the Blaine tourism marketing and development plan. The plan was completed in March 2001 by BTAC working with Chandler, Brooks and Donahoe, Inc. The plan included 48 specific strategies recommended and approved by BTAC and the Blaine city council. On April 24, 2003 BTAC held a half-day retreat to review the plan and consider any changes in direction and focus, and found that many of the strategies have been completed or are under way. The BTAC also added two new elements to the plan. The first is developing the community into a first- class bird watching destination. The second is support for the construction of a replica of the Semiahmoo Lighthouse along Marine Drive. The BTAC invites the public to attend this important meeting to hear a status report on various tourism projects in the community and to discuss the new elements of the plan. The meeting will be held at Blaine Public Library meeting room at 7 p.m.

Students: Service needed for graduation
As of next year, seniors will have to perform 20 hours of community service in order to graduate. “So far so good,” career counselor Rick Shockey said about students’ reaction to the requirement. “The community service can be county-wide, but we would like it to be in Blaine,” he said. Community service announcements, leads and jobs will be listed at the career center at the high school to assist students in finding community service projects. Once students decide on a concept for their 20 hours of service, they must meet with the board to be granted permission to go ahead, Shockey said. For those in the community who wish to share community service ideas or have jobs to offer students, please contact Rick Shockey, career counselor, at 1055 H Street, Blaine or call him directly at 332-6045, ext. 1323.

Whatcom Red Cross gets national award
Two Whatcom County Red Cross members will received the National Partnership Award at the Red Cross National Convention on Thursday, May 29 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Mary DeKuyper, national chair of volunteers, will present the award to Randy Scott, disaster services director and Bob Mark, VISTA volunteer for their teamwork and cooperation in creating the Whatcom County public education team, or PET. Scott, a long-time emergency response professional, and Mark, a recent college graduate, worked together to create a sustainable program that has made possible and significant impact in Whatcom County. They structured the public education team (PET) curriculum, designing a training program for potential presenters, shaped localized messages about services and emergency response plans, and communicated with other disaster response agencies to provide inclusive information sharing. The two then began the process of recruiting, training, mentoring, supervising, recognizing and retaining new and existing volunteers.