News Briefs | Around the Island, Jan. 3

Islander Charlotte Shepard has opened a new restaurant at the northeast corner of Winslow Way and Madison Avenue.

122 Winslow opens for eats

Islander Charlotte Shepard has opened a new restaurant at the northeast corner of Winslow Way and Madison Avenue.

Called 122 Winslow, the eatery opened for business on Dec. 26 in the space previously used by the Winslow Way Cafe, which closed a few months ago.

Renovations by Fairbank Construction and All in the Details interior design took more than two months, Shepard said. The restaurant includes three separate dining rooms, a bar and a newly refurbished kitchen.

Chef Rudy Balch, who worked previously at Wing Point Country Club, described the food as Mediterranean with a strong Italian influence.

The restaurant is open for lunch from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Dinner hours begin at 5 p.m. and a bar menu will be served from 10 p.m. until closing. The business will be closed on Mondays.

Old baubles brighten a day

Most fashionistas have a stash of baubles once treasured, now buried at the bottom of the trove.

“Every woman has jewelry in her jewelry box somewhere, and every woman loves jewelry. Those facts you can carve in stone,” Jane Martin said.

That was Micki Lippe’s thinking when three years ago she began the Seattle-based Women’s Shelter Jewelry Project, which collects and refurbishes unused jewelry for distribution to area women’s shelters.

“She wanted to figure out a way to give back to the community, with jewelry,” said Martin, an island resident who co-founded the Seattle Metals Guild with Lippe. “Thinking and thinking and thinking, this is what she came up with.”

On the giving side, response to the program was “phenomenal,” Martin said. From gifts they didn’t really like to inheritances that weren’t quite to their taste, women donated “boxes and buckets” of jewelry of all styles and at all price levels. Even a single earring could be turned into a pendant.

The project proved the perfect solution to the tricky problem of unused jewelry: it feels wrong to just throw it away.

Seeing how adaptable the model could be, Martin decided to bring it to Kitsap County. She began by placing distinctive blue boxes at local businesses last week. At the end of January, she and a volunteer corps will spend a day refurbishing the pieces and making repairs as necessary.

The jewelry will then be given to the Bremerton-based YWCA ALIVE domestic violence shelter, which will coordinate distribution to other area shelters. Items will be disbursed as individual shelters deem appropriate.

Women might receive them as birthday gifts, to wear to job interviews or to celebrate attendance milestones at support group meetings. Jewelry will also be given to children to give as gifts to their moms.

Extremely valuable pieces will be auctioned online to help fund the program. Irreparably damaged metal will be sold for scrap, also to further the program. “Junk” jewelry will go to local charities.

“Very little goes into the garbage,” Martin said.

Blue donation boxes are at these Winslow businesses: Renew Day Spa, Winslow Drug, Blinx, Port Madison Home, Dana’s Showhouse, Esther’s Fabrics, Heart, Island Family Eyecare, Ginger and Bead Garden.

Volunteers are also needed to prepare the jewelry for delivery, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Jan. 24 at Camp Yeomalt, 900 Park Ave. All skill levels are welcome.

To volunteer or to get more information, contact Martin at 842-4569 or jane@drizzle.com.

And as Martin said, quoting Lippe: “It’s not tax deductible, but you get a warm heart.”

New pastor at Rolling Bay

Rolling Bay Presbyterian Church has hired a new pastor, Rhe Rev. Martin Shelton-Jenck, a native of Mt, Angel, Ore.,who comes to Bainbridge with his wife, Heidi, and four children.

The Shelton-Jencks family moved to the island last month from Sandy, Utah, where Martin, 46, was the pastor of the Community of Grace Presbyterian Church for nine years. In addition to serving as the paster of a Presbyterian church in Houston prior to moving to Utah, his experience includes directing a community housing agency and coordinating a sanctuary and refugee movement, both jobs in Tucson, Ariz., and managing social and welfare ministries in Peru.

Heidi works as a literacy specialist and freelance writer for the Christian and education markets. Their four children are Gordon (8th grade), Gabe (6th grade), Carmen and Cate (both kindergarten).

Dick Middleton retired as the church’s pastor in 2005 and the church had two interim pastors appointed by the Presbyterian Church USA during the next three years.

The search for a permanent pastor took several months before Shelton-Jenck was hired.

MLK event set for 24th

The 10th annual “Sing Out” benefit for Helpline House will feature Pat Wright & The Total Experience Gospel Choir and a special concert honoring Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., scheduled for Jan. 24 at the Bainbridge Island Filipino-American Community Hall.

Several events will be held during the day, beginning with a choir workshop at 1 p.m. (age 10 or older and no experience necessary) and a dinner will begin at 5 p.m. It will be followed by choir members and special guests singing spiritual and traditional gospel-style choral music honoring Dr. King.

Ticket prices: concert $12, students $8; workshop $12, students $8; dinner $12; package (three events) $30.

Package or dinner tickets must be purchased by 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 21, and are available at Winslow Drugs or call 842-2200.

Park and rec signups near

With online registration for its winter season beginning Monday, the Bainbridge Metropolitan Park and Recreation District is rolling out a fresh slate of programs.

Activities debuting this year include a birding field trip to watch snow geese on the Skagit Flats and snowshoe expeditions to Hurricane Ridge on the Oly- mpic Peninsula.

New offerings have been added to several of the park district’s sections, including School Enrichment, the 50+ Activity Center, Sports and Fitness, Cultural Arts and Gymnastics.

Brochures were expected to arrive in mailboxes earlier this week. For a list of new activities, a browseable brochure and online registration see www.biparks.org.

Buckley hires sales agents

Buckley and Buckley Real Estate has hired Jim Kennedy as a new associate broker and Kristi Nelson as a sales associate.

Kennedy has worked as an attorney and as a real estate agent on the island.

Nelson has lived on the island since 1998 and her real estate expertise is in marketing and negotiating.