community12 l August 8, 2012 SAMMAMISH REVIEW

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By Katie Larsen

Eastside Friends of Seniors is a local organization that provides seniors with volunteers who help transport them to medi-cal appointments, shop and run errands, complete household chores and jobs, and provide information and referrals.

It began in 1998, then known as Faith in Action, and now services Sammamish, Issaquah and the Snoqualmie Valley. In Sammamish, there are currently 50 active clients and 55 active volunteers.

According to Executive Director Clair Petersky, the median age of clients is 82 and the biggest age group is 85 to 90 years old.

“It’s really heartwarming to see how much our volunteers get from helping seniors in our community,” Petersky said. “I think we are definitely friends. I think we benefit the entire com-munity.”

There are a variety of differ-ent ways to volunteer. To build a relationship with a client, volun-teers are matched with someone

who needs consistent help. There are also opportunities for group projects that take a full or half day to complete, like cleaning up after storms or doing yard-work. There are also volunteers who are just on call to provide a service if they are available at a given time.

Amanda Lin, senior at International Community School, is interning for the summer through Teens in Public Service (TIPS).

TIPS allows teenagers the opportunity to do community service while also getting paid.

Lin accompanies volunteers to meet with their clients and interview both to get an under-standing of the people and the background of the relationship. The information is then com-piled into anecdotes and shared either on the organization’s blog or in newsletters to sponsors and donors.

“It’s just been really inspiring to work with such a great group of people who are all passionate about the organization,” Lin said. “Even though I’m only writing stories, talking with these people

is something I will always trea-sure.”

Lon Lindo has been volun-teering with Eastside Friends for two and a half years. A regular service he provides is picking up Francis Takacs from kidney dial-ysis on Wednesdays and driving her to her home in Sammamish.

“You get more back than you give,” Lindo said. “They wouldn’t be able to maintain their inde-pendence and this helps their pride.”

Lindo also serves on the Board of Directors and said the biggest problem the organization has is fundraising. In November, Eastside Friends of Seniors will hold their annual fundraiser. The exact date has not been set.

Takacs has been using the ser-vices since the beginning of the year and said all the volunteers are nice and dependable.

“Eastside Friends of Seniors does all these services that may seem insignificant to someone outside the organization, but it really does make a huge differ-ence in a senior’s life,” Lin said. “They can live as they want and maintain their dignity and con-nection with society.”

An example of a match pair, volunteer DeeAnn Maher and client Lucinda Cox, have been working together for over a year. Maher visits Cox every week, alternating between cleaning her apartment in Issaquah, and tak-ing her on errands. Cox also has macular degeneration and often has a list of jobs for Maher to do once a week, like open her lip-stick container.

“I so look forward to her com-ing,” Cox said. “I wish young people were more exposed to volunteer things. There are so many things they could learn at a young age to encourage them as they grow up.”

Maher said that part of the organization is pairing up people who click with each other, like her and Cox.

“It opens up just a fantastic

friendship. They become an important part of your life,” Maher said. “I love what I do right now.”

The women have been through a lot together, including Cox losing her significant other, who also used the services of Eastside Friends to get rides to the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance.

“It’s just so nice to have this service available to us seniors,” Cox said.

Recently, Puget Sound Energy donated a grant to purchase emergency disaster kits for all cli-ents. The kits will be purchased and distributed in preparation for winter storms.

Later this year, the organiza-tion will expand to Bellevue.

“It’s the ability to keep people living independently and be in good shape being there,” Petersky said. “Sometimes, it’s that extra help with volunteers that helps them to flourish.

Reach reporter Katie Larsen at 392-6434, ext. 236, or sam-rev@isspress.com To com-ment on this story, visit www.SammamishReview.com.

Eastside Friends of Seniors brings help and friendship“You get more back than

you give.”– Lon Lindo, Volunteer –

By Ari Cetron

The morning and afternoon will belong to the children of Samammish Aug. 18 during the annual Sammamish Days festi-val.

This year’s annual children’s parade kicks off at 9:45 a.m., said Dawn Sanders, volunteer coordi-nator for the city. Check-in and line up for the parade starts at 9 a.m., and children are encour-aged to dress up as their favorite storybook character, Sanders said.

Then at 10 a.m., the entertain-ment begins at the Sammamish Commons.

A number of professional performers, some from the area, will put on a child-friendly show including music, dancing and more.

Sanders said crowd favorites, including a steel drum band, and groups of Hawaiian, Indian and Irish dancers from past years will be on hand.

Sammamish Days will also host some multi-cultural arts and crafts, such as having bookmarks printed with children’s names in Chinese, and henna tattoos.

“We have so many different cultures in our community,“ Sanders said. “It really gives us a chance to see what our neigh-bor’s heritage is like.”

As the festival winds down, multi-cultural storytelling will begin at the Sammamish Library, starting at 2 p.m. with “Daring Dreams in Times of Magic.”

Some familiar and some new food trucks will be provid-ing refreshments for purchase,

Sanders said, but the event is free.

Sammamish Nights

Then, in a few hours time, the Sammamish Commons will be transformed from a children’s

playground to an adult’s play-ground.

A team of volunteers will have to prepare the area for a night of food, wine and art under the stars at the annual Sammamish Nights starting at 6 p.m.

“We have to be magicians,”

said Deb Sogge, executive direc-tor of the Sammamish Chamber of Commerce. The chamber is organizing the event and plans to increase the options from previ-ous years, Sogge said.

“We decided we needed to pull out all the stops and make it a bigger event,” she said.

She expects to have 12 res-taurants participating, some of which will serve dessert options, something lacking in years past.

There will also be 16 wineries, each pouring samples. Unlike past years, wines by the glass will not be available; instead patrons will have to content themselves with 1-ounce samples.

New this year, in a different area from the wines, will be a brewery — offering beer tastings, of course — and a vodka distill-

File photoA cowboy rides a giant chicken through last year’s Sammamish Days. This years event will fea-ture entertainment along with food and arts and crafts.

Sammamish Days and Sammamish Nights offer funIf you go

For more information about Sammamish Days, including parade registration information and volunteer opportunities visit www.ci.sammamish.wa.us/events/Default.aspx?ID=2404.

For more about Sammamish Nights, or to buy tickets, visit www.SammamishChamber.org.

See NIGHTS, Page 13

By Alexis Myers

Sammamish native and ris-ing senior at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Kevin Penner won the Sahalee Players Championship July 6 in a three-way sudden death playoff.

During the final shots of the tournament, Kevin focused on his tee shot and approach shot to the green. He birdied the 18th hole to end regulation play tied with Chris Williams of Moscow, Idaho and Ben Geyer of Arbuckle, Calif.

The game went into a playoff, and the trio had to play the 18th hole again.

“I knew that Kevin was going to win — I could see the confidence in him build, he never once doubted himself,” said Trevor Smith, a friend of Penner’s who was caddying.

All of them got on the green in regulation. Williams putted 25 feet from the hole and missed his birdie. Geyer was three-and-a-half feet from the hole, and ended up missing his birdie putt as well. Penner’s putt went dead center between the other players’ shots, clinching the victory.

“When Kevin and I realized that he had won after another player missed his putt, Kevin looked over at me, and we both hugged in celebration. It was a moment I will never forget,”

Smith said.The win came during Penner’s

fourth time competing in tour-nament. He now joins the list of past champions that include some top amateur players. More than a dozen tournament veter-ans have wound up on the PGA Tour, something Penner aspires to himself.

“My goal in the future for golf is to play golf professionally on the PGA Tour. I am going to work really hard on my golf game over the next year, and play in some prestigious tourna-ments,” said Penner.

Penner, and Eastlake High School grad, was in his element,

playing on his old home course. “The field was very strong at

Sahalee, and I grew up playing on that golf course in high school, so to be able to beat the best ama-teurs in the world on a course I know so well, makes me feel very good,” Penner said. “I do not get to play in front of many peo-ple from back home that often, so when I make it up to Washington to play, it is nice they come out to watch.”

The local venue also gave friends and family a chance to watch the rising star

”It was his biggest win of his

sports14 l August 8, 2012 SAMMAMISH REVIEW

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By Matt Carstens

Frank Lawhead, head coach of the Lakeside Recovery 15U team, knows that baseball is a game of failure.

After going 29-12 entering the Lee Johnson Tournament July 25-29, his team was ready for a challenge.

“We were playing in an older tourna-ment with some better competition,” Lawhead said.

Lawhead’s team went 1-4, winning their last game in the tournament, 5-3, against Showtime. Despite the rough time over the weekend, Lawhead said he knows it was a good experience for his kids.

“For them to see what they have to do next year is important,” he said. “We’ve done that several times this year, we played in a 16-17-year-old tournament and we did a little bit better there.

We’re just trying to get them to understand that when they get to high school there is no age limit, they’re com-peting against 16-, 17- and 18-year-old kids.

“It was a pretty positive experience

for the boys. I think they rose to the occasion a little bit.”

The Lakeside 15U team was one of the strongest in the league this year and went on several torrid winning streaks that gave them the best record in the league.

After the Viking Memorial Day Tournament in Kenmore on May 28, Lakeside went on a 10-1 stretch, routine-ly scoring more than 10 runs a game.

Its lone loss in the streak came at the hands of the Woodinville Blue; the team lost by one run with a final score of 5-4.

After going 1-4 at the Saxon Invitational in Salem, Ore., Lakeside Came home and continued to win going 13-3 including a 10-game winning streak.

“In those periods of time the boys were really competitive at this level,” Lawhead said. “We won our league and then we had our district tourna-ment, where we ran into a couple of hot teams. The team that put us out won the tournament and the other team that

ContributedEastlake Tigers 11U Navy team went undefeated to win the 3 Earls of Everett Tournament July 21-22. The tigers went 4-0 in tournament play. Showing off their championship medals are (bottom row from left) Jack Titus, Reed Branson, Jack Rud, Peyton Bowers, Braxton Diaz, Nate Verboort, Dillon Gierok, (top row from left) Jack Carper, Ryan Sabbatani, Adam Carper, Henry Wiebke and coach-es Glenn Bowers and Dave Gierok.

Tigers win 3 Earls of Everett

Photo by Mitchell CantorMax Levy twists in midair on his way to a national diving title. Levy, a Skyline student, took first place in the 3-meter springboard in the 17-year-old division and took third in the 1-meter springboard at the AAU championships July 25-30 in Huntersville, N.C.

Max Levy wins national championship

Lakeside preps for future

Photo by Aaron Lavinsky/The Seattle TimesKevin Penner surveys the ball prior to a putt.

Golf phenom Kevin Penner has dreams of turning professional

See LAKESIDE, Page 15

See PENNER, Page 15