Relay for Life participants fight back

When you hear the word cancer, everyone involved with the Relay For Life wants you to think about these words instead: Celebrate. Remember. Fight back.

From 10 a.m. Saturday, June 7, until 10 a.m. Sunday, June 8, an unbroken chain of people will walk the track at Kings Woolsey Stadium at Kings High School to raise funds for cancer research. Among them will be employees, patients, family members and survivors from Puget Sound Cancer Centers (PSCC) — a platinum level sponsor of the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life for six years.

Oncologists from the North Seattle PSCC clinic will be camping and walking the track with their families this weekend, right along with everyone else.

“We set up our tents, camp out over night and sponsor a team of walkers ‘round the clock because it’s important for our patients to understand our commitment to the research and local services ACS provides for patients and their families,” said PSCC practice director Denise Parkinson, who camps out every year.

PSCC also sponsored a team from their Edmonds clinic at the Lynnwood Relay For Life in May that raised well over $100,000 from that weekend alone.

The public is encouraged to come for the live bands all day, karaoke or swing dancing at night, the Luminaria of lit candles all around the track at 10 p.m. or to see a young woman from Nathan Hale attempt to break the Guinness Book of World Records for speed-crawling the track on hands and knees for one mile.

LFP features sixth annual garden tour

The Secret Gardens of Lake Forest Park will be discovered on June 14 during the sixth annual Secret Gardens of Lake Forest Park garden tour.

Between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Ciscoe Morris of 710 KIRO Radio will be broadcasting live from the Lake Forest Park Towne Centre. There will be a plant sale with a variety of exotic and rare plants as well as native plants, drought tolerant plants, ferns, flowers and small shrubs, garden art, crafts and educational booths. Master Gardeners will be on hand to answer your gardening questions. The plant sale is free and the public is invited.

Advanced ticket sales for The Secret Gardens of Lake Forest Park Garden Tour are $12 and are available at Wild Birds Unlimited, Two Trading Tigers and the Farmers Market in Lake Forest Park, Molbak’s Nursery in Woodinville, Sky Nursery in Shoreline, Swansons in Seattle and Ravenna Garden in University Village. Advance tickets will be exchanged for a ticket and map on the day of the tour at the plant sale. Tickets are $15 day of the tour.

The Secret Gardens of Lake Forest Park will also feature somelocal artists and musicians creating art and performing in the gardens.

The Lake Forest Park Towne Centre is located at the intersection of Ballinger Way Northeast and Bothell Way Northeast.

For more information visit www.secretgardensoflakeforestpark.com or e-mail lfpgardens@yahoo.com.

Legislative Youth Advisory Council seeks new applicants

Youth who may be interested in advising the state Legislature on legislation and policy matters of importance to them to apply for a seat on the Legislative Youth Advisory Council (LYAC).

This council of 14- to 18-year-olds was established to give the Legislature advice on critical issues related to education, health and fitness, test reform, school safety and other topics related to youth. The council is under charter by the state Legislature through June 2009.

LYAC consists of 22 members who serve two-year terms and if eligible, may be reappointed for subsequent two-year terms. They can meet up to six times a year.

Final appointments are made by the lieutenant governor and are based on recommendations and selection criteria developed by the council itself. LYAC members create the application package and then meet in July to review and score each application. New members are appointed by early August each year.

The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction provides administration, coordination and facilitation assistance to the council, with the state Senate and House of Representatives to provide assistance with fiscal and policy briefings.

New member applications are now being accepted through June 30. The application includes a section for teacher recommendations. The application form can be downloaded from the lieutenant governor’s Web site at www.ltgov.wa.gov/YouthandCommunities/LYAC/

More information about the council can be found on the Web site itself, or by sending an e-mail to lyac@leg.wa.gov.

Summit offers residents storm protection techniques

Seattle Public Utilities will host a free, one-day summit on Thornton Creek Watershed on Saturday, June 7, at North Seattle Community College from 8:15 a.m. until 3:15 p.m.

The summit will highlight the work the cities of Seattle and Shoreline are doing together on a basin-wide approach to solve the flooding, water quality and habitat issues in both jurisdictions. In collaboration with Seattle, Shoreline Public Works director Mark Relph will describe Shoreline’s Thornton Creek basin plan and flood plain mapping approach that will achieve the best results for both cities and their residents.

According the Seattle Public Utilities’ Thornton Creek Watershed Characterization Report, “Thornton Creek drains a 7,402-acre (11 square mile) urban watershed in northwestern King County between Puget Sound and Lake Washington, extending roughly from Northeast 190th Street in Shoreline to Northeast 80th Street in Seattle. Unlike other urban watersheds, over 90 percent of the creek’s main channel — more than 15 miles — flows above ground, through more than 700 backyards and over 15 parks and natural areas, on its way southeast across town toward Lake Washington.”

North Seattle Community College is located at 9600 College Way N. in Seattle.

Attend a star party

The Seattle Astronomical Society plans its free monthly public star party for Saturday, June 7, at Paramount Park at Northeast 155th Street and Eighth Avenue Northeast in Shoreline.

Club members will set up their telescopes around 7 p.m. Members of the public are encouraged to drop by and have a look at what’s in the sky.

Poor weather will cancel the star parties. For more information, visit the Seattle Astronomical Society Web site at www.seattleastro.org, or e-mail information@seattleastro.org.

For midweek updates, visit www.enterprisenewspapers.com/ShorelineZone, your home for the latest Shoreline and Lake Forest Park news. Send Around Town news items and photo submissions to shoreline@heraldnet.com.