“Canvas and Camera: The Art and Photography of Calvin Rae Smith”
Please join is for a lecture by Dr. Thomas Pratt, who will discuss collecting and restoring the work of his great-grandfather, Calvin Rae Smith, a New York City artist who painted in the Pacific Northwest and was a co-originator of an early single reflex lens used in cameras.
UW Lecture, April 12, 2021: David B. Williams “Who is Watching You”
Who’s Watching You? – Do you ever have the feeling that you are being watched when you walk in downtown Seattle? You are probably right. Hundreds of eyes peer out from buildings in the city observing your every step. Neither human nor electronic, these ever-present watchers belong to dozens of carved and molded animals gazing out from Seattle buildings. Based on his book, Seattle Walks, this 1.5 mile virtual walk through Seattle’s central business district will reveal a menagerie of beasts fabled, fantastic, and fierce, including lions, eagles, ducks, and walruses, in addition to likely sightings of live birds and other animals in our city. Please join us, no binoculars needed.
As part of the UWFA Lecture Series today we present our very own UWFA members, Vicki King and Donna Hahn. They are inviting you to join them on two virtual birding walks on March 10 at 1 PM. One walk took place during the winter; the other one took place during spring migration. We saw more than 30 commonly-seen birds in our region at close range and talked a bit about their biology and behavior during these walks. It runs just under 50 minutes. We hope you’ll enjoy the recording of this presentation.
Wednesday, February 10
1 – 2:30
Please join us this coming Wednesday, February 10, at 1 p.m. via Zoom as our own UWFA President Christine Newcomb gives a lecture entitled “Porcelain: Art and Objects of Desire”, based on visiting porcelain manufacturers in Germany. Christine’s talk will encourage you to bring out and put to everyday use those pieces you might have tucked away in your cupboards.
Wow, Fall is definitely here and is it blustery outside! The wind whistles around my head and I wish I had a hat on, don’t you feel the same way? Of course, not about me having a hat, but about yourself.
Well now, here is a way you can do something about that and help UW students as well!
Make an appointment to come and see the wonderful hats your fellow members have knitted and get yourself covered. Not only have we got the best variety of hats, but they are all hand-made, unique and, need I say more, fabulous!
Here you will find not only that special hat for yourself, your spouse and possibly the grandkids, but also a great gift for that hard to buy for aunt or uncle, cousin or friend who just simply already has everything. I bet they don’t have one of our fabulous creations! And they are so reasonable too! Most hats are between $20 and $30 depending on labor and material. And remember, these lightweight, unbreakable gifts are easy to mail to distant friends and family. But most of all remember that they are made with love. Love for our UW community and the students who need financial help through scholarships now more than ever with all the COVID-19 restrictions.
This year we have no grand sales venues as COVID restricts us all, but we thought we would make the fruits of our summer labor available to you, our dear UWFA members and to your friends.
How? Easy as pie:
We will have three shopping opportunities for you to come to see the hats, try them on and buy. Cash or checks only, please. The hats are for sale by appointment and thus will assure the safety of one customer at a time. The hats will be displayed on our porches or in the garage to offer a safe environment for you with plenty of air circulation and of course a chance to get out of the rain. What, rain in Seattle?
When: By appointment only
Friday, November 20th, from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm- Wednesday, December 2nd, from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm Saturday, December 12th, from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm
Where: Addresses are all in the Directory
Nov 20th call; at Kay house
Dec 2nd call; at Dagmar house
Dec 12th call; at Barbara house
We know that once you come and see the hats that you will fall in love with them and the creativity on display. So, come prepared to spread the love to our UW students and bring lots of money!
No, seriously, we would love to warm your heart and your head with our
wonderful hats.
Please make the appointments soon, we would love to welcome you at each location
Yours,
Kay, Barbara, and Dagmar and all the generous knitters, whose hats will be on display
It was a good day to be at the beach, this morning! No rain, few people and just enough trash to keep us 8 Team members busy for an hour and a half!
We received words of gratitude from several beach-goers and two crew from Seattle Parks grounds maintenance, including an enthusiastic Sean Hermes, director of the grounds crew. He is hooking us up with the Parks Volunteer Coordinator so we can match our volunteer efforts to the actual parks crews’ needs for help. They gave us a gajillion hefty garbage bags, so you won’t have to BYOB (Bring Your Own Bags) for the next decade… or at least for the next several outings, anyway.
Many interesting things were found, today: a bouquet of yellow roses, barely de-petaled from the tides; a cremation-urn tag from the cremated remains of a beloved pet; a boogie board minus its boogie; a pair of adult undies… (uh, and we’ll just let that go without further comment); a couple of nice cloth shopping bags (we threw them away, just in case...); a broken beer bottle tangled up with a fishing line gone bad (an enormous fish must have gotten away, angering the fisherman!); some water toys; and what appeared to be a homeless encampment among the sand dune bushes.
About the encampment: I was informed that, during this time of pandemic chaos, the parks are currently not actively removing encampments. This will change when the crisis ends. Thank you for understanding this and accepting that it is what it is. We simply moved on and silently wished the (absent) campers well.
Thank you, one and all, for a successful beach clean-up! It is a bit like an organized “treasure hunt”: you never know what you’ll find, which probably intrigues the brain, fooling you into thinking that picking up trash is a blast! I am delighted that YOU think so, too.
We will be picking a day during Thanksgiving week to go out to clean up a beach, based on the weather forecast and tides. If you feel like getting outside for a genuine treasure hunt, and giving thanks for your ability to do so–to be mobile, to be able to help the environment and people’s enjoyment of it – then please join us for our next Day At The Beach!
Best wishes,
Claudia & Ron Green
Greeting, UWFA Members,
What a year this has been! I hope that you are doing well.
You may all have heard that the UW Club is closed for good, and we can no longer hold the Lunch Lectures and Scholarship Awards Dinners at the UW Club. (The UWFA’s silver is stored safely for future events.)
Of course, the UWFA is an organization independent of the UW Club, and its events will continue in the future at another location. We are searching for venues that can accommodate the needs of the UWFA events.
The UW Faculty Auxiliary Board of Directors has made two important decisions related to the COVID-19 regulations that affect the UWFA organization’s activities.
1. All Lectures for 2020/2021 will be offered by Zoom by members of the UWFA.
Those lectures will be recorded for your convenience, and can be either watched
by Zoom or later online.
We will exercise extreme caution in reintroducing any UWFA events to keep all members safe. You will get more information about this later.
We are encouraging you to meet with your UWFA interest groups virtually and hope you can stay in touch with the members during this unprecedented time.
We kindly ask you to please pay your UWFA dues ( preferably by check), and please make donations for the Scholarship funds on the UWFA website. Your generous contributions will be appreciated and needed more than ever.
I am looking forward to meeting you in person or by Zoom and wish you and your families a safe and restful summer. And, please look out for more information about the status of any UWFA events in 2020.
Best wishes and kind regards,
Christine Newcomb UWFA president.
We learned yesterday that our Past President Mahin (Mimi) Wagar passed away gently last Friday, March 13, 2020. We are saddened at this news and remember her as the gentlest of ladies in our midst who could make anyone feel good.
Getting to know Mimi was a blessing that few could resist. We all admired the wonderful leader of this great circle of friendship, the UWFA, as she always put it. Mimi’s way of drawing you in and making you feel like you were the most important person in the room surely had something to do with it. Her wonderful flowery speech was like a warm blanket wrapped around you. She always made you feel so special.
In Mimi all the beauty and gentleness of the exquisite, ornate, and flowing designs of the Farsi script and calligraphy of Ancient Persia were manifest and she was a Persian gift to us, one that disarmed us with kindness and whose gentle embrace we will miss so much. We treasure Mimi’s memory. She led the UWFA as President in 1991, and served our group in so many ways with devotion, grace, and charm.
We will let you know when we learn about a memorial service for her. Her long-time friend, Carol Hol, will write a more detailed article about Mimi for the next newsletter. In the meantime, we send our heartfelt condolences to Mimi’s husband, Alan Wagar, and to her entire family. They and we have all lost a very wonderful woman, one who will be sorely missed.
Sincerely,
Dagmar Shannon and Nancy Kenagy
UWFA Co-Presidents
I am very sad to report the passing of Kay Spelman, a wonderful friend to many of us and a loyal, supportive member of UWFA. She passed away peacefully on July 7, 2019.
Though born in Mount Vernon in 1938, Kay spent her Junior High and High School years in Yakima and then attended University of Washington to study education. On her way to California for her first teaching position she met, however, a young and handsome Army Officer from California named Sandy (Francis) Spelman. They fell in love and were married on August 19, 1961 in Yakima.
Kay and Sandy moved to Seattle after their wedding, raised two children and devoted their lives to their family. When her children reached high school age she returned to teaching for a number of years. She was active as a volunteer at her Assumption school, Assumption church, Francis Hoffman Circle, Solid Ground Sand Point Housing and the UW Faculty Auxiliary, where she served as President in 1988. Kay was an early participant with Barbara Garlid in starting the Visiting Faculty Housing Service and she volunteered there for more than 30 years. She also served as editor of the UWFA newsletter and also belonged to several interest groups. Kay made many friends in the Faculty Auxiliary and she will be missed.
The Spelmans were a close knit family and took trips together every year, usually around the state. Those trips were adored and looked forward to by all members of the family.
Kay leaves behind her beloved husband Sandy, their children, grandchildren and the most recent member of the family, her great-grandson.
On March 1st, Alvin Eller, husband of Ruth Eller and long-time UWFA member, died at Horizon House.
Alvin and Ruth were married for 66 years and they moved to Seattle after a successful dental practice of 33 years in Southbury, Connecticut. Alvin enjoyed the UWFA and attended many events such as the Luncheon Lecture Series and the Spring Luncheon. He also was devoted to his time in Southbury and loved Horizon House, where he participated in the OK Choral Choir. Always fun loving, Alvin was an avid fisherman and a great pool and poker player.
Alvin is survived by his loving wife Ruth and his daughter Janna Michael, who lives in Warburg NC, and by their grand- and great-grandchildren.