The week of January 23rd Spokane, Coeur d’Alene & Post Falls Toastmaster Clubs will be hosting a series of workshops to present and showcase skills in coaching, team-building, delegating, resolving conflict, motivating employees and goal setting.
Experienced members of the club will present and teach these valuable skills to our community, skills necessary to be successful and to thrive in today’s business and education environments. We would like to invite you to join us at any of the member clubs. You can attend one or all of the workshops:
• Monday, January 23rd “Conflict Resolution” – 6:15am-7:15am at Perkins Restaurant – Division & Trent, Spokane
o By: Lamplighters djrahmer@yahoo.com 509-443-1684
• Monday, January 23rd “The Visionary Leader” & “Service and Leadership” – 12:00pm noon – 1:00pm at Integrus Archicture – 10 S Cedar, Spokane
o By: Carnegie Square mplummer@volt.com 208-699-9009
• Tuesday, January 24th “Leadership Toolbox” – 6:30am-7:30am at Something Else Deli – 152 S Sherman, Spokane
o By: Gaveliers inlandempiretours@hotmail.com 509-747-1335
• Tuesday, January 24th “Delegate to Empower” – 8:30am – 9:30am at Boy Scouts of America – 411 W Boy Scout Way , Spokane
o By: Non Proferati tmccandl@bsamail.com 509-242-8249
• Tuesday, January 24th “Servant Leadership” & “Developing a Mission” – 12:05pm – 1:00pm, Downtown Public Library – 906 W Main Room 1B, Spokane
o By: Uptowners debbusiness09@comcast.net 509-863-4461
• Tuesday, January 24th “Values & Leadership” – 6:30pm-7:30pm – Monastery of Saint Clare – 4419 N Hawthorne Street, Spokane
o By: Clare’s Clan srl@icehouse.net 509-327-4479
• Wednesday, January 25th “Leader as a Coach” & “Building a Team” – 11:30am-12:30pm – Inland Lighthouse for the Blind, 6405 N Addison, Spokane
o By: Vision Speaks mdavis@seattlelh.org 509-487-0405
• Wednesday, January 25th “Values & Leadership” – 12:05pm-1:00pm – Faith Bible Church, 600 W Cora, Spokane
o By: Lunch Bunch tracy.vanorden@avistacorp.org 509-495-4942
• Thursday, January 26th “World Class Goal Setting” – 6:30am-7:30am – Paulson Building, 421 W Riverside, Room 805, Spokane
o By: Evergreen rich.schaus@ugmspokane.org 509-449-9131
• Thursday, January 26th “Giving Effective Feedback” & “Motivating People” – 5:30pm-6:30pm – Corbin Senior Center, 827 W Cleveland, Spokane
o By: Moonlighters info@moonlightersspokane.org 509-466-7583
• Thursday, February 2nd “Presidents – Characteristics of Effective Leadership” – 7:00am-8:00am – Fire Station #3, 1500 N 15th, Coeur d’Alene
o By: Talk of the Town talkofthetowncda@hotmail.com 208-704-5785
• Friday, January 27th “Giving Effective Feedback” & “Motivating People” – 12:00pm noon – 1:00pm, Mountain West Bank, 125 Ironwood Drive, Coeur d’Alene
o By: Lake City Club mrsabear@roadrunner.com 208-635-5487
• Thursday, February 16th – “Service & Leadership” & “Delegate to Empower” – 6:30am – 7:45am – Templins Red Lion Hotel, 414 E First Avenue, Post Falls
o By: Post Falls Club brownrice37@gmail.com 208-773-4681
Details are also posted on our district website: http://d9.toastmastersdistricts.org/
About Toastmasters International
Toastmasters International is a nonprofit educational organization that teaches public speaking and leadership skills through a worldwide network of clubs. Founded in October 1924, the organization currently has more than 270,000 members in 13,000 clubs in 116 countries. Each week, Toastmasters helps more than a quarter million people of every ethnicity, education and profession build their competence in communication so they can gain the confidence to lead others. For information about local Toastmasters clubs, please visit www.toastmasters.org.
Want to know about all the coolest winter outdoor gear? OTM partners in the Outdoor Adventure Media network went to the worlds largest outdoor trade show last week and sent back this cool video report.
> MONDAY DEADLINE FOR /FIT FOR BLOOMSDAY/ SIGN-UP
> Schools Have Until January 23rd to Enter
>
> January 20, 2012—Elementary schools in Eastern Washington and North
> Idaho have until Monday to sign up for the /Fit for Bloomsday…Fit for
> Life/ youth fitness program. After the entry deadline, over 60 schools
> are expected to have signed up, with nearly 6,000 kids participating in
> the ten-week running and walking program. (more…)
Snorkeling in the Bahamas, exploring the Baja, hiking in the Canadian Rockies-you have seen the ads in Outside Magazine and long to have an adventure of your own, but you just don’t seem to have the disposable cash or the vacation time.
What about Eastern Washington? Have you considered exploring our own bioregion? Why not scale all 7,210 feet of Hooknose Mountain near Colville or explore the Blue Mountain Range near Walla Walla? James P. Johnson, the author of 50 Hikes for Eastern Washington’s Highest Mountains, loves the thrill of climbing a mountain, enjoying the view and being home before dinner.
“In the early ’90s, I hiked up Mt. Abercrombie-the second highest mountain [in Eastern Washington]. I had lived here all my life and I was completely unaware there were such high mountains in our region, and so many of them,” says Johnson.
Johnson, an avid hiker, spent eight years researching, writing and hiking mountain peaks for the book. An elementary school teacher at the time, he devoted four of his summers to personally hike each of the mountains at least once.
“Some mountains are really easy to access-you can drive a car right up to then-some are very remote, an all day hike. If you had the whole summer and were really dedicated you could do them all. Once I hiked five in one day.”
When Johnson began his pursuit of Eastern Washington’s highest peaks he started at the map store. “There was no compilation of the highest mountains, so I began looking at USGS topographic maps,” says Johnson. Johnson took the names of each of the peaks from the maps, but found little background as to why each mountain was named. “I found hardly any research on names, history and there were no records of first ascents, probably due to the ease of the hikes,” says Johnson.
The hikes that Johnson lists are just that, they are not technical climbs. Every hike included can be climbed in a day or less and requires no specific gear or equipment. Many are suitable for young children. Johnson views the ease of each climb as one of the benefits of our region. With less danger involved, hikers can access high country earlier in the season.
The other benefit for Johnson, is that not many people know about these hikes. “I have hiked in British Columbia, Banff and the North Idaho Selkirks-our mountain peaks are not quite so spectacular, but if you love the outdoors, you can get out and appreciate it without the crowds. At times I have hiked on a holiday, or a busy summer weekend and have seen very few other people along the trail, and at times been a solitary hiker.” As a way to commemorate reaching the top, Johnson has built on the more remote, higher peaks, a few rock cairns at the summit, and has placed a canister inside with a sign-in log.
Several of the peaks listed in the guidebook, are managed for resource extraction primarily, they are not on protected public lands. “You pass through ripped up, torn apart landscape. Like the Salmo-Priest area-it seems so small on a map, but when you are there, standing on those peaks, the valley and slopes have all been logged. You can see the clearcut everywhere, the wilderness has been taken away. Hopefully by visiting these mountains, more people will pay attention and logging can be done in a more thoughtful manner,” says Johnson.
When Johnson began shopping his guidebook around, he found almost no interest from over hundreds of publishers. He had just about shelved the idea when in 2002 he discovered a small Oregon publisher, Frank Amato Publications, Inc. that primarily published fishing books. “I was at the bookstore and I noticed that they also had some hiking books, so I sent them a manuscript.” They agreed to publish the book almost immediately. Since then, 50 Hikes, has received a lot of local interest and support from local bookstores. Johnson is very happy with how it has been doing.
Johnson’s objective in publishing the book was to bring more awareness to the beauty of our bioregion, to allow us connect with our immediate landscape. “Being surrounded by the Cascades, the Canadian Rockies and Glacier is great, but if you only have one day available, you can go see something spectacular right around here,” says Johnson.
And if you are looking for that unique experience that comes with a true adventure look no further than the alpine toad. While hiking, Johnson has seen the prerequisite black bears, moose and even elk, but the animal he saw the most frequently were toads. “You expect to see a toad near a pond but not near the top of a 6,000 foot peak. The alpine toad seems to be everywhere. They seem to have quite the range in elevation.”
State DNR to kick off recreation planning for the Snoqualmie corridor
Public invited to help create a vision for recreation on state lands in eastern King County
OLYMPIA – The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is planning for the future of recreation on 53,000 acres of state trust lands, natural areas, and other lands managed by DNR along the Snoqualmie corridor in eastern King County. DNR is inviting the public to an open house on January 18 in the City of Snoqualmie to kick off the planning process and get feedback from citizens. (more…)
Polartec Challenge Grants Available for 2012 Expedition
10.03.2011– (Lawrence, Mass.) – Over the past twenty years, Polartec has supported hundreds of expeditions around the world through the Polartec® Challenge, an international grant program encouraging outdoor adventure. Applications for Polartec® Challenge grants are now available for 2012 expeditions. (more…)
Ferry County Rail Trail celebrates second annual Ski Day
The Ferry County Rail Trail Partners have announced that the second annual Ferry County Rail Trail Ski Day will take place on Saturday, January 14th from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Last year’s inaugural event proved to be quite a success. “It absolutely was a success with about 50 people taking part who had never skied or been on snowshoes before.” said organizer Keith Wakefield of N.E.W. (Northeast Washington) Recreation out of Curlew, Washington. “It was fantastic. We had people from ages two to 70.” (more…)
Great news! Last night the City of Spokane Plan Commission voted unanimously to recommend adoption of the complete streets ordinance to City Council. City Council will hold a final vote on Monday December 19th at 6pm at City Hall in Council Chambers! Complete streets is about making our city and its businesses and services accessible to all citizens whether they own a car or not. Which is critically important to our economic vitality and preserving a sustainable future for our community. (more…)
The Stage 1 “Condition Yellow” burn ban will continue–likely through the weekend–announced the Spokane Regional Clean Air Agency (Spokane Clean Air). The National Weather Service has extended the Air Stagnation Advisory for Spokane County until Noon on Tuesday. Spokane Clean Air staff will continue to evaluate the conditions on a daily basis including weekends.
Only EPA-certified wood burning stoves and inserts and pellet stoves are allowed. These devices are mostly those manufacturered after the early 1990s. Devices should have a label documenting its certification status. Click here for a list of EPA-certified devices.(more…)
