Beach Watchers bring a university to the island

Published 2:00 pm Saturday, January 14, 2006

A one-day “university” with more than 60 classes to choose from is expected to draw 500 islanders this year.

Sound Waters University will be held on Saturday, Feb. 4 at Coupeville middle and high schools. This Beach Watchers sponsored event has been going on for more than 10 years, and each year it attracts a larger crowd than before.

“We’ve really come a long ways,” Beach Watchers Director Don Meehan said. “To my knowledge there is no other workshop of this magnitude in the county.”

One reason for the event’s success is the variety of subjects that are taught.

There is information about bats, mushrooms, disaster preparedness and methamphetamine. There are cooking classes, classes about maritime history, and shellfish harvesting. And that’s just a small sample of the offerings.

“Whatever your interest is as somebody who lives here, there are courses that will add a great deal to your understanding,” said Dan Pedersen of Beach Watchers.

“It’s a very broad collection of material, and it would be hard to imagine that anyone who lives here wouldn’t be touched by some of these subjects,” he said.

Sound Waters is a learning opportunity that can go beyond a one-day experience.

“In my view it is about helping the community and these natural systems,” Meehan said.

The event can not only give Whidbey Islanders a better understanding of their environment, it can inspire them to be better stewards of the land.

“We want to take care of what we have and maintain the quality of life,” Pedersen said.

The Beach Watchers said the education people receive when they become Beach Watchers, and by attending the Sound Waters University, allows them to start thinking about the beach and other systems differently. And they become better observers, too.

“People are in awe when they learn about the creatures that are on the beach, and then go for a walk a week later and see them,” Meehan said.

This new understanding can often lead people to take better care of the land and its’ inhabitants.

“It’s much easier to protect things you know and understand than things you don’t have a clue about,” he said.

With the ever-increasing growth in Island County, these Beach Waters said there’s no better time than now to become an environmental steward.

“We are rapidly changing what is here,” Meehan said. “So it is more and more important for people to recognize the need to protect what we have.”

The quality of the Sound Waters classes are largely influenced by the teachers who participate.

They range from naturalists, to government department heads, to community members who’ve become experts in different subjects.

“It’s quite a collection of people,” Pedersen said. “And they’re all volunteering their time to do this because they are all passionate about their fields.”

Many of the instructors are happy to introduce Sound Waters’ participants to additional sources about the subjects.

“They love what they do,” Pedersen said. “So they’re happy to have people get in touch with them and follow up on things.”

Students at the one-day university will get to attend three classes. For each session, participants will pick their top selection of classes with two alternatives.

People who are interested in attending Sound Waters should register soon. There is a 500-person limit for the event and it’s expected to fill up by the Jan. 20 deadline.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Pedersen said. “It’s a huge gathering of people.”

“I’ve been going back every year because there’s always more I’m curious to learn about,”

he said.