Aberdeen Events Calendar

Listen to selections from oral histories gathered by Harbor area students come to life through readings and narrator panels. Through these voices we will explore what draws us to this place, what helps us persevere during times of struggle, and what cultivates our sense of belonging to the area known as “The Harbor.”

Voices from the Harbor is an event series produced with funding from Humanities Washington. This is the first in a series of three events.

Join us as we salute Arnold Samuels, a local legend, and meet his biographer, John C. Hughes, chief historian for the Office of the Secretary of State.

Samuels’ remarkable Army service during WWII found him serving in Counter Intelligence Corps, helping liberate the horrific concentration camp at Dachau and working with another young Jewish G.I., Henry Kissinger.  Arnold Samuels is also the only person ever elected to the Ocean Shores City Council as a write-in.

Don’t miss this opportunity to own a signed copy of Washington Remembers WWII! Be there for this extraordinary presentation!

Each year, after a winter’s worth of inclement weather, heavy storm surges and millions of waves crash against the wild coast of Washington State, a group of volunteers gets together to walk the beaches, picking up tons of trash. Each April, the Washington CoastSavers, its partners and volunteers, have cleaned up what the storms of the past year have brought in.

For more information, read here.

Origins. Remnants. Renaissance. Peel back the layers of meaning of places and spaces of special significance to the Harbor region’s identity along a self-guided tour. Then, join us for a reception at the Polson Museum with local historians and discussions of insights and perspectives sparked by the tour. Tour guides and information will be available on April 29 beginning at 10:00 a.m. at the Hoquiam Library.

Voices from the Harbor is an event series produced with funding from Humanities Washington. Layers of Meaning: Experiencing the Built Environment is the second event in a three part series.

All October long, pick up a colorful world map at the Information Desk to trace your family’s passage from your ancestral homeland to Grays Harbor, with landing points along the way. We will supply markers and other crafting supplies for you to use. Maps will be available starting Oct. 3. Supplies are limited. Submissions may be posted to library social media.

Participating libraries: Aberdeen, Amanda Park, Westport

Explore the story of your immigration or an ancestor’s in this writing workshop under the guidance of author and poet Joanne Clarkson. Clarkson most recently published a volume of poetry, “The Fates,” which touched on her grandmothers’ immigration experiences.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
“We are coming together because we are tired of Grays Harbor County’s economic devastation and we are working together to make our city a better place for everyone,” says Mashyla Buckmaster, organizer with Harbor Rising and Chaplains the Harbor.

June 12th, 2018

CONTACTS:
Mashyla Buckmaster (360) 580-4278
Stina Janssen (360) 301-3340

Downtown Future Housing Site Tour and Vigil to advance vision for 2,000 affordable housing units in Aberdeen Revitalization Plan

Aberdeen, WA – Residents of Aberdeen who have experienced homelessness first-hand and housing-insecure families advocate that affordable housing must be a central emphasis in Aberdeen’s Revitalization Plan. Saturday, under the banner “Harbor Rising,” we will gather to welcome the Most Reverend Michael Curry, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, to the streets of Aberdeen. Having sermonized at the Royal Wedding, Curry is now an international household name. Presiding Bishop Curry’s presence honors the work of our local community, which is rising to the challenge as we face down a housing crisis and advance lasting solutions.

Local residents will lead a downtown tour highlighting both our plight and our potential for future affordable housing and treatment centers, demonstrating our vision to the Presiding Bishop and members of the New Poor People’s Campaign visiting from across Washington State. We will end the day with a vigil at Aberdeen City Hall to honor the many lives lost due to homelessness in our community. The tour will meet at 3:00pm Saturday, June 16th in the parking lot next to Jay’s Fruit Stand (corner of South G St and E Heron St, Aberdeen, WA 98520) and will end at City Hall (200 E Market St) for a vigil.

Making housing a central priority in Aberdeen’s Revitalization Plan would address issues at the heart of citywide concern for Aberdeen’s economic future.
In recent weeks, the City has responded to homelessness with ordinances that would punish homeless people for the housing crisis. There have been community efforts to evict the largest homeless camp in the city. Like the City and the business community, we want a better future for our city and we want businesses and workers to do well.

We mourn the devastating loss of the Aberdeen Armory, which housed vital services including Meals on Wheels, the Museum of History, and Coastal Community Action Program, a provider of housing assistance. Despite the backlog the fire’s destruction will place on housing resources, we know that as a resilient community, we will rise.

Those who know homelessness firsthand have a vision to restore our county and its people by rebuilding our housing stock. One in sixteen people—approximately 1,000 people—are homeless in Aberdeen (DSHS 2017). For every 100 extremely low-income families in Grays Harbor, there are just 17 housing affordable units available. For the 1,775 extremely low-income households in the county, there are only 615 affordable units available, and for the 1,715 very low-income households, only 605 affordable units are available (American Community Survey Data 2016).

Meanwhile in Aberdeen, 11.7% of housing, 862 units, stand vacant (US Census 2010), most of these currently unfit for human habitation. We propose that 2,000 units be built or restored in Aberdeen to fill the gap in affordable housing availability. Harbor Rising imagines responsible agencies partnering with local organizations to provide housing including pathways to home-ownership and employment in housing construction and restoration. The Future Housing Site tour, led by people who have experienced homeless and housing insecurity first-hand.

The tour will end at City Hall for a vigil for those who have died on the street, prayer, and words from Presiding Bishop Curry.

Harbor Rising is made up of people with experiences of homelessness and housing insecurity, local residents, and organizations including Chaplains on the Harbor, Democracy Rising, Blind Justice and more.

Memorial Day weekend May 29th – 30th – 31st will be the first time the Simpson Railroad will be offering locomotive pulled rides. Our “Caboose Hop” will be around the 2.25 mile loop aboard historic 40 year old caboose #201. The 201 and it’s two sisters were the last commercially produced in the United States, marking an end of an era. Scheduled to operate is locomotive #1200 built in May of 1956 making her 65 years old and is still going strong. Caboose 201 was built in June 1981. These two pieces of our museum collection have always been in logging service and represent 105 years of collective history that the Peninsular Railway & Lumbermen’s Museum is dedicated to preserving. So come out and take a ride with the us aboard logging railroad history.

Memorial Day weekend May 29th – 30th – 31st will be the first time the Simpson Railroad will be offering locomotive pulled rides. Our “Caboose Hop” will be around the 2.25 mile loop aboard historic 40 year old caboose #201. The 201 and it’s two sisters were the last commercially produced in the United States, marking an end of an era. Scheduled to operate is locomotive #1200 built in May of 1956 making her 65 years old and is still going strong. Caboose 201 was built in June 1981. These two pieces of our museum collection have always been in logging service and represent 105 years of collective history that the Peninsular Railway & Lumbermen’s Museum is dedicated to preserving. So come out and take a ride with the us aboard logging railroad history.

Memorial Day weekend May 29th – 30th – 31st will be the first time the Simpson Railroad will be offering locomotive pulled rides. Our “Caboose Hop” will be around the 2.25 mile loop aboard historic 40 year old caboose #201. The 201 and it’s two sisters were the last commercially produced in the United States, marking an end of an era. Scheduled to operate is locomotive #1200 built in May of 1956 making her 65 years old and is still going strong. Caboose 201 was built in June 1981. These two pieces of our museum collection have always been in logging service and represent 105 years of collective history that the Peninsular Railway & Lumbermen’s Museum is dedicated to preserving. So come out and take a ride with the us aboard logging railroad history.