FOCUS ON YOUTH

Cool activities for a hot summer

By Ellery Roy Queen Anne Community Council

Sometimes in the summer, I find there isn’t a ton to do besides family vacations and camps. But I spoke to Ivy, an upcoming 7th grader at a Queen Anne middle school, and I would consider her the “Summer-Expert.” She had a lot to share about what she likes to do in summertime, such as favorite parks, swimming, camps, vacation spots and special food she loves.

First she started by telling me about her favorite park, Big Howe in Queen Anne. Ivy likes Big Howe because no matter when she’s there, she runs into someone she knows, so it makes the perfect summer hangout.

Swimming is a must for Ivy during summer, especially since she is on the Cascades Swim Team during the school year. One of her favorite swimming spots that she recommends is Lake Sammamish State Park. If you visit the beach at this State Park, you will need a Discover Pass and can learn more here: https:// parks.wa.gov/.

Don’t forget to stop at the ice cream stand, which I recommend.

This year Ivy is enrolled in the Disc NW summer camp - an ultimate frisbee camp. Ivy really enjoys ultimate frisbee and plays on school teams and with family and friends in her spare time. Check out Disc NW or enroll here: https:// www.discnw.org/

FERRIES from Page 1

Ivy’s favorite vacation spot is Holden Village - a family camp in the mountains. It is very remote, and you need to take a ferry on Lake Chelan to get there. Doesn’t that sound so cool? Ivy says there is great food and many crafts to do on your own time. Check it out: https://www. holdenvillage.org/

Last thing Ivy mentioned about her favorite summertime activities, is that she loves to go to the farmers market and get whoopie pies from the Liberated bakery stand. Learn more about this allergen-free bakery here: https://liberatedfoods. com/about/.

So, me being me, I had to try Ivy’s recommendation about these cookies. I can see why Ivy loves them so much! They were just the perfect amount of sugar and the soft cookie melted in my mouth. Stop by on try one!

On the food note, Ivy also likes boba tea from Queen Caphe! Her favorite thing to order is taro milk tea with tapioca pearls. And she likes Moonrise Bakery and orders a Chai and whatever pastry looks good that day.

Hopefully you enjoyed reading about Ivy, and her recommendations inspired you to try a new activity this summer!

“This one program won’t fix everything overnight and the two-year course work means we won’t see the first graduate from the program for quite a while, but this is a great program and it will definitely help build a stronger workforce going forward. It’s been said we need to be more creative in how we develop our work force and this is a creative way that hasn’t been done at MITAGS. We don’t think we’ll have a problem recruiting students for the

GROWING from Page 1Æ such as fresh Corsican mint (Mentha requienii) or the vanilla thrown by sweet box (Sarcoccocca species) from tiny dripping white flowers you have to seek to find.

Some are just unabashedly obvious about it, with large trusses just flinging their deliciousness about. Here I’m thinking of lilacs, lilies, certain clematis, privet (not everyone’s favorite, but it sure is noticeable). Some, like the lilies are best appreciated outdoors — they can be a bit overwhelming in a closed space.

Others make you come to them — like roses. Roses have their own catalog of scents, classified as fruity, floral, myrrh, Old Rose, and tea. Old roses are sumptuous and sweet, myrrh is spicy, and some blend many together, but usually you have to bring your nose to the flower to experience it.

Daffodils also repay close nose work with sweet fragrance, so don’t forget winter in your plans for a fragrant year, to steal the title of Helen Van Pelt Wilson’s book.

Grow a petting zoo

Then there are the ones that hold their scented oils until released by friction. Once I know, it feels like our little secret, like a friend who makes a funny face or accent and I’m saying, “Ooh do the thing again!” In these, the fragrance is hiding in the leaves. People are often surprised to find that the flowers of lavender are not where the magic happens — it’s the leaves.

I keep mental notes about where the pettable shrubs are on my walks around the neighborhood. Some annuals I buy or cultivate every year to ensure fragrance therapy is readily available, like lemon verbena (Aloysia citrodora,) and scented geranium Pelargonium ‘Orange Fizz’ — I’m a sucker for citrus scents — and pineapple sage, (Salvia elegans). That last one I may pop in my mouth after enjoying the scent.

The whole mint family fall into this category. There are the ones you think of as mint, nepeta, catmint, hyssops (Agastache or hummingbird mint) and then there are all the sages (salvia), rosemaries, basils, and lavenders — which are all technically the mint family. Some are perennial, some annual, and some are “it depends.”

The hyssops alone could be their own fragrance museum, with various cultivars and species showcasing hints of root beer, licorice, and mint.

I’m a sucker for the woodsy-notquite-skunky scent of white sage, the one that is in sage sticks. It’s borderline hardy here and needs perfect drainage, but I revel in one every chance I get.

Vanilla is another scent I love — I find it so homey and inviting. I get my dose from the sweet box, but also annual alyssum, which throws its scent nicely, and heliotrope — always worth splurging on when you find it.

I discovered an antique petunia this year — Petunia axilaris ‘Rainmaster’ — obviously I’m not passing up that name in Seattle — but the fact that it was a fragrant heirloom from 1823 put it over the top and into my basket. You can grow it from seed, but I found it in the specialty annuals section. It’s much taller than most petuniuas but is a welcome greeter in my front door window box.

Unexpected twists

Melianthus major may be called honeybush by its friends, but when you rub its silvery leaves, it smells straightup like peanut butter.

Iris pallida has deep purple bloms with a sweet surprise — this is what the makers of grape soda were channeling when they made it. It’s soooo sweet.

I still hope to move one of my pallida to my Melianthus, with some nice signage by the sidewalk for the kids:

“My leaves smell like peanut butter and jelly!” program.”

Besides looking for “passionate and motivated individuals,” applicants for the program are required to be at least 18 years old with proof of a high school diploma, GED or HiSET. Proof of U.S. citizenship is also required and applicants will need to take a basic math entrance exam and be eligible to obtain Merchant Mariner Credential (MMC) and USCG Medical Certificate as part of the process.

Home to the largest ferry system in the country and the second largest in the world, Washington State Ferries announced in 2022 that it was operating on alternate schedules on some routes as reports of ferries everywhere running behind schedule because of staffing issues made headlines.

“These changes will help offer more predictable and reliable service system-wide in the face of crewing shortages,” the agency said on its website back then. “WSF will attempt to add service when possible and will provide notifications when full service can temporarily be restored to a route.”

All the commotion kicked into high gear just months after more than 400 Washington State Department of Transportation employees were fired for not complying with Gov. Jay Inslee’s vaccine mandate, with 132 of the losses coming within WSF. While the governor’s COVID-19 state of emergency declaration from February 2020 ended roughly eight months later in October, state employees are still required to be vaccinated against the virus as a condition of employment.