Here is Your Monthly Newsletter from Seabeck

September 2020 News & Views

Look for News & Views in your inbox every month to see what's happening at Seabeck

News from the Director

I know it is a common internet joke to say July had 56 days this year, but I had a different feeling in August. Is it just me, or did this month fly by? I remember when this all started, and we were asked to stay home for a few weeks. Now that is months. The first few drug by. Now it seems the pace is picking up. Christmas is less than four months away now. Is it too early to put up a tree? I’m asking for a friend.

Although the pace has picked up, our lack of guests hasn’t changed. It has been fun seeing many of you in the past month. I have hosted a few small work parties to build the furniture for Pines and many have dropped by for a tour or a look around. I even hosted a small wedding on Salmon Bake beach for lifelong Seabeck guests that lost their venue. We all miss you and can’t wait to host guests again.

I still have no idea when we will reopen. We will do so as soon as we safely can do it. I am still hoping for a few events this fall. We will keep you posted. Our eight full time people continue to work, and we will be ready at a moment’s notice to start.

We are still working to secure financing to finish Pines. It is just a long process. We’ve had no news good or bad, just supplying the paperwork and waiting. In the meantime, I made the difficult decision to stop work on Pines as of August 25^th. The building is secure, and we will be ready to restart when the financing comes in. The second-floor rooms are painted Seabeck Vanilla and are ready for carpet and fixtures. The first-floor rooms are dry walled and awaiting tape and mud. The meeting areas are still at the stud stage but much of the infrastructure is in. The siding is 60% completed and the parking area is landscaped and graveled and is ready to pave. It’s a tough time for our partners as well. FPH Construction had to lay off some of the crew that were working here. I am hopeful that we will restart very soon. I just couldn’t take the risk of having bills we couldn’t pay. It will all work out. We will finish this building.

We have cut expenses a little more by double checking everything on campus and turning off what we don’t need. Even two of our walk-in refrigerators are off. We still have reserves and will continue to use them to operate. Any help you can give, either to Pines or the general fund will help us. We will get through this. When we emerge, we will still have one of the best campuses and staff in the nation. We will also have a new building to match.

Hang in there. Stay safe.

We will see you soon

Chuck

Special Notes from our Guests...

“So wish we could be there with you and all who are holding down the fort. May there be better times ahead!”

"I have attended Springdans many times and always look forward to enjoying your facility and the wonderful hospitality of your staff. Wishing the best of luck in this difficult time.”

"We’re so sad Family Camp is cancelled but want you to know we support you and want to see you in 2021!”

“All the best to our friends at Seabeck!”

“Currently I commute to work in Tacoma and passing the conference center twice a day is one of my highlights. I have watched the improvements being made and have on occasion stopped by-Halloween is always fun. I hope the guests will be able to come back soon- for them to build memories and for your staff be a part of them.”

“Your newsletter always brings warm smiles and fond memories. Thank you! And thank you for 23 years of making my life better. And thank you for annual hugs and smiles. It is my pleasure to help with the continuation of Seabeck.”

"It is killin' me not to be able to come to Seabeck this year! I am part of the volunteer group who support the deaf-blind week at the end of August. This would have been my 18th or so year, maybe more, I have lost track!. I look forward to coming every year because I have fallen in love with the northwest Washington State area and with Seabeck. It is such a magical, calming place. I have said many times that it reminds me of the mystical place in the stage play and movie, "Brigadoon". The story is that this village appears in the mist in the Adirondack Mountains of New York once every 100 years for just a day (in the show, two men from New York City stumble across it while hunting and one of them falls in love with a lass and must decide if he's going to stay with her and disappear in the mist, never to see his family and friends again). To me, Seabeck appears once a year and as we get on the buses and pull out of the camp to return to Seattle, it's like Seabeck is disappearing into the mist for another year. Immediately, I want to come back!"

"I knew for a long time that we would not be able to come to Seabeck this year but now that August 1st is here the reality struck home with an emotional impact unequaled by anything else. I am a singer and miss my opera buddies and choir friends enormously but going to Seabeck has been the emotional anchor in the year for my family and myself for as long as I can remember. We started coming to Seabeck I believe in 1980 or 1981. Over the years we would often come to both Eliots as well as to the winter camp. This year would have been a first for us as we signed up for Eliot II and for the Art Camp."

Pines Furniture Building

Our Furniture Building Volunteers

8/23

Mark and Gail Westin

8/24

Ken Kersten

Brant Kersten

Chissa Farahmand

Skyler Kersten

Kimberly and James Lovelace

8/25

Jen Peck-Michaud

Ava Raupp

Mack Raupp

Mike Michaud

8/26-28

Arnie Marcus

Jan Viney

Latest Pictures of Pines

Pines 2nd Floor

Family Rocks

Someone decorated a grave in our cemetery with a family tree. It seems to show everyone that descended from these two people.

Raleigh Leroy Ames

Ellen G. Ames (Shaw Greenwell)

Wedding at Seabeck

Chuck hosted a small wedding on Salmon Bake beach for lifelong Seabeck guests that lost their venue due to the pandemic.

The Pines Capital Campaign

We have a desire to continue to offer our services for many years to come. Seabeck Conference Center is happy to serve people like you, and we invite you to be a part of our legacy. Your donation will help us build a new Pines (ready by Fall 2020) that will be a place for future generations to gather.

WAYS YOU CAN SUPPORT

SEABECK CONFERENCE CENTER

Want to help us lay the foundation for the next decade of Seabeck Conference Center?

There are many ways, not all of them involving huge disbursements of cash.

Here are some creative ideas you might not have thought about:

Cash Donation Today

Tax deductible gifts via check or credit card, in person or online. Please consider

upping your regular gift by another 10 percent.

Automatic Monthly Payments

Gifts can be deducted periodically from your bank account, making larger donations

easier by spreading them over time.

Low-Cost Appreciated Stock

Avoid paying the capital gains by giving full-market value to Seabeck Conference Center.

Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD)

A QCD is a direct transfer of funds from your IRA custodian, payable to a qualified charity. QCDs can be counted toward satisfying your required minimum distributions (RMDs) for the year, as long as certain rules are met. You must be 70 1/2 or older to be eligible to make a QCD.

In-Kind Donation

We are always in need of furniture, lighting, rugs, and much more - the

market value which is tax deductible.

Multi-Year Pledges

A great way to ensure support will be there when we need it year after year.

Designated Gifts

Donate to a targeted project or capital campaign.

Commemorative Gifts

Donate a bench or rocking chair in honor of someone or something important to you.

A Bequest in Your Will

Your gift can be a specific sum or a percentage of an estate after other bequests.

Just add an addendum to your existing will.

IRA's and Retirement Plans

Your estate receives a charitable deduction for the full gift amount on estate and income

taxes, while we receive full donation value. Non-charitable heirs receive only a part of

the value (since inherited assets are subject to estate and income taxes).

Life Insurance and Savings Accounts

Same as retirement plans, except that payments made to Seabeck Conference Center

are exempt only from estate taxes.

All gifts are welcome. Seabeck Conference Center is a 501c3 nonprofit organization and your contribution may be tax deductible. If you have any questions, please contact our Executive Director, Chuck Kraining at (360) 830-5010 or email him at chuck@seabeck.org.

Seabeck Conference Center

13395 Lagoon Dr NW

Seabeck, Washington 98380

360.830.5010 Email | Website