Your Queen and Mine of the Society for the Legitimization of Ubiquitous Gastropods, Markalo Parkalo, wishes to convey warmest wishes, solstice celebration and official offerings herewith:

First, thank you for your support of my favorite nonprofit: LILA (Lane Independent Living Alliance).

Your contributions from my Third Ball amounted to more than $2,000, and we increased awareness of Independent Living (IL) in Lane County. IL is the applied value of choice for people with any disability.

Having choice in our lives is a core desire for us all and LILA promotes choice for anyone who comes to us. LILA offers peer support and advocacy at no cost for many of our programs. The money we raised is dedicated to assisting local businesses to make their locations more accessible to people with disabilities.

If you own a business, call LILA to request a Blue Path Survey. The first hour of consultation will be free to the first 30 businesses. We will show you methods, many at low or no cost, that allow more customers access to your shop. We advertise businesses to people with disabilities for organizations that complete our Blue Path Survey.

Third, (I’m saving second ‘cause it’s so great!) thanks for the community support for Empathy Tent. We began last year to offer free empathy for folks at Saturday Market. Thanks to the board and management at Saturday Market for our spot with you.

A very wide variety of people stop in to be heard. I get to meet a lot of people new to town or homeless. We have a team of listeners staffing the tent from 11 am to 5 pm most Saturdays. Look across from the Wells Fargo Bank and come meet us. We not only hear troubles and heartbreak but also the most supreme celebrations and all that is in between. Empathy Tent is a living memorial to the life of the late Marshall Rosenberg and his Nonviolent Communication.

Second, Empathy Tent opened at Oregon Country Fair this year in the tail of the dragon near the entrance! Our local mediation center, Center for Dialogue and Resolution, hosted the tent at the Fair. I have been mediating conflicts for Center for Dialogue and Resolution and at Small Claims Court for 10 years. And I look forward to continuing empathy work to polish my rough edges and to contribute, in whatever measure, to peace on our precious planet.

Fourth, I invite you to see my metamorphosis from Raining Queen to Old Queen. The Society for the Legitimization of Ubiquitous Gastropods invites you to the 34th annual SLUG Queen Competition and Coronation. Somesuch occurs every year about this time at 6 pm Friday, Aug. 12, at the Saturday Market stage. Come on out and we’ll sing for you and entertain you. (Bring a chair.)

Thank you for the very fun year. — Markalo Parkalo