Thank you to everyone who attended our annual picnic in July. We loved seeing friends, old and new. Newcomers are always warmly welcomed.

This year, Rick Faunt was given an award for his years of service on the board, including as treasurer, and as an advocate, writer, loop installer, and all-around friend to people with hearing loss. That’s Cheri handing him his BBQ-themed gift below.

A round of applause and gratitude goes out to our special guests…

• Bryan Greenaway and Alexandra Alfieri, audiologists from the Northwest Academy of Audiology, who answered our questions so thoughtfully. We’re excited about ways we can work together to reach more people with hearing loss across Washington State and Oregon.
• Michael Fox from the Washington State Office of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
• Stevie Elliott from Aging & Disability Services gifted us some Gold Cards. These cards provide discounts on local services and products. If you’d like one, email us at hope@hearingloss-wa.org and include your mailing address, and we’ll send you one.

Linda Shulman brought caption glasses from Captify, and people enjoyed trying them out (spoiler: they were a big hit.) And we had a friendly rivalry as people bid against each other at our first silent auction, which included a Roger Pen, tickets to the Seattle Rep, and a Pocketalker.

Picnic attendees were invited to grab a microphone, talk about their hearing loss journey, and then share what they liked about their audiologist and what they wished their audiologist knew. We captured their stories on video, so watch for those coming soon.

Meanwhile, enjoy these candid photos from the lovely, sunny day at Lake Boren Park in Newcastle, Washington, courtesy of photographer Kevin Pieczynski.