Holland Happening is an Oak Harbor tradition. In its sixth decade, the annual spring festival celebrates the town’s Dutch heritage along with the diverse cultures that call North Whidbey Island home.
2022’s event featured an extra fun dive into the deep end of fun. And fundraising.
According to SPiN board member Carol Wall, “we had a great response to our Dunk Tank at Holland Happening. The tank was a benefit effort for SPiN Cafe and the North Whidbey Sunrise Rotary Walk for Water project. These community leaders brought out lots of people to see them go into the dunk tank. It was a fun event and our two groups raised over $2,300.00 to split between us!”
Shane Hoffmire: “this will be a long cherished experience.”
Community leaders who took a bath for SPiN included City Council members Shane Hoffmire, Jim Woessner, Bryan Stucky, and Dan Evans, as well as New Leaf CEO Steve Jacobs and First United Methodist Pastor Dave Parker.
“It was fifty-one years ago… man, that’s amazing… it was 1971, and a bunch of us in college at Western started a band. We opened for the Chambers Brothers in Bellingham, and that was it. We didn’t need college, we opened for the Chambers Brothers! They were huge! So we moved to Seattle…”
Jamar Jenkins brings his guitar groove to SPiN’s Spring Fling, May 21.
The band morphed into Cold, Bold, and Together, a mainstay of the thriving Seattle funk scene in the 70s. Like Jamar, a guy named Kenny G got his years-long saxophone career started with CBT in the clubs of Seattle.
SPiN Café was pretty quiet on a recent Wednesday afternoon. You know how you’re sitting at dinner and it’s loud and chatty and then the food comes and everyone shuts up and eats, because it just tastes and feels so good after a long day?
It was that kind of quiet. A quiet of relief, gratitude, and hope as SPiN’s dinner program spins back to full speed.
Helping hands, back to making real meals for SPiN guests
Executive Director Michele Chapman smiled with that same relief and gratitude as she chatted about the meals, open to all who are hungry. SPiN has struggled to feed guests since late 2019 through COVID, funding challenges, and a change of location.
“We worked extra hard for two years,” Michele says, “just to make sack lunches for our guests. Now it’s wonderful, and our guests are so grateful, that once again we can provide…” she pauses, “…a real meal.”
SPiN is now providing those dinners to 25-30 people on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings.
Real meals were on tables around the room as guests thanked Tangiler, Shirley, Kaya, and Amira for bringing plates piled high with casserole, bread, and vegetables.
With funding from an Island County grant, SPiN restarted dinner service in March, stepping back into a tradition that began when SPiN was founded and paused abruptly two years ago with COVID.
St.Stephen’s Episcopal Church has been a constant through that tough time, welcoming SPiN guests while masking and distancing were required. Michele is grateful for the support, and she laughs that the easing of virus restrictions has brought about more contact with church members. “We have to remind ourselves, we aren’t the only ones here anymore!”
Asked if anything would make the dinner service better, Michele is quick to answer, “more volunteers!” Chef Tangiler cooks the meals at the Presbyterian church and transports the huge trays a few blocks over to St Stephen’s, where volunteers serve to the guests. “We could use a few more people each night to help out.”
On the horizon, the one-time county grant runs out at the end of this year. Michele and the SPiN board have a fundraising task ahead of them, to ensure the future of the program.
For now, though, real meals are a real deal.
SPiN Café’s Day Center is open Monday through Friday, 6:30AM – 5:30PM
Dinners are served Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, 4:15PM – 5:30PM
At St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, 555 SE Regatta Drive, Oak Harbor
Fe Mischo has orbited in the SPiN Café universe since the beginning.
When SPiN started out on Bayshore Drive, Fe already knew and respected SPiN founder Vivian Rogers Decker. Fe worked at ECEAP preschool (Early Childhood Education Assistance Program), where she sought out and advocated for families facing financial struggles and homelessness. She dropped off resource materials for families at SPiN, and got a firsthand look at the good things SPiN was doing for Oak Harbor.
“I was homeless myself at one point in my life,” Fe says. “I was 20 years old, with no place to live. All I had was my Nissan, so that’s where I slept. I had too much pride to ask my family for help. So many of us don’t want to acknowledge that we’re just one financial blow away from the streets. For me, it helps that I can relate, personally.”
From those early days of SPiN, Fe saw the way every guest was treated with respect and dignity. She knew this was an organization she could support.
Two years ago, as COVID sent workers and students into isolation, Fe left her job at the preschool to be home with her kids. Like a lot of women – and she’s quick to note accurately that women in the workforce took the blow in disproportionate numbers – Fe refocused her attention on her family while she rode out the lockdowns and closures of the pandemic.
A recent part-time spot serving lunches to SPiN guests drew her back to the workforce. As a longtime friend and supporter of SPiN’s mission, Fe knew exactly what she was getting into, and she’s glad she did. And in an odd happy twist, for this person whose job is to serve, Fe feels the joy and gratitude coming back at her.
Persistence pays off, once again. It took a couple of years, but it was dogged persistence,it was relentless, and it was confident, knowing there will be good days ahead.
SPiN Executive Director Michele Chapman has announced that, on March 15, SPiN and St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church will once again welcome guests for dinner.
Welcome home, friends. We’ve missed you.
Evening meals will be served from 4:30 – 5:30 PM on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays in the St. Stephen’s parish hall, 555 SE Regatta Drive in Oak Harbor.
Volunteers will be needed. Volunteer information is available by clicking here.
