O Bee Credit Union and The Olympian Newspaper are hosting the “Amazing Money Maze” at the Rutledge Corn Maze to promote a fundraiser for the Thurston County Asset Building Coalition. The money is to help promote financial education programs among the local community. This Corn Maze is a way for local businesses and organizations to come together and teach people vital financial concepts in a fun and family friendly environment for everyone to enjoy!

The Thurston County Asset Building Coalition is comprised of leadership from human and social services, financial institutions, micro-enterprise, workforce development, economic and community development agencies. The Coalition has forged a strong working partnership established under the philosophy of a long-range strategy to assist in building individual’s assets and improving the quality of life found throughout the community.

I’ve owned The Pilates Center of Olympia since 1998. Six years ago I realized that my enjoyment didn’t come from simply providing instruction in the method of Pilates; the satisfaction came from connecting with others in meaningful way. I adopted a method of my own. My method became inviting others along on my personal journey through life.

I experienced sexual abuse as child and possessed all the classic coping mechanisms common to such survivors. I battled addiction and alcoholism and all the repercussions that accompany this disease. In just under 25 years, I admitted myself into over 15 treatment centers and detox programs. I was arrested for prescription forgery, spent time in jail, and in lieu of a formal felony conviction, spent 19 months as a participant in the Thurston County Drug Court Program submitting to daily UAs, classes, meetings and weekly court appearances. I struggled with much of this while simultaneously running my business, investing enormous energy into keeping that part of my life a “secret.”

Is your potato pooped? Does your lettuce limp? Are your onions too weak to weep? If your veggies are like much of today’s produce, they have good reason for being a bit run down. Odds are they have traveled about 1,300 miles to reach your neighborhood grocery store. Even with the cosmetic enhancements of a chemical spray and beauty wax, there is no denying the fact that your ‘cukes have led a hard life.

When I was growing up, my grandmother always had someone living with her. It wasn’t to take care of her; she took care of them.

It seems that in the past decade our world community has been challenged to withstand a series of traumatic events, either conjured from the dark side of human nature, or by the whim of the unpredictable and awesome power of nature itself. 9/11, the tsunami of 2004, Hurricane Katrina. Each tragic event has left an indelible mark on our collective consciousness, both for the pain and loss that each caused, and by the response in each event of the human spirit to bestow and sustain.