In brief: Pony baseball league seeks umpires

Spokane Pony Baseball is looking for umpires for the upcoming season, which runs April 6 through July.

Players range from ages 9 to 14. Umpires earn between $30 to $40 per game. Training and some equipment is provided. Meetings began Monday. For more information, contact Gary Broadbent at 216-9456, the Pony office at 483-4653 or the Web at spokanepony.org.

Downtown

St. Paddy’s parade will be March 14

The Friendly Sons of St. Patrick will celebrate its favorite holiday on March 14 with the 31st annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

Spokane and other local businesses and/or political parties are welcome to support the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick and advertise in the parade. Registration forms will be accepted online until Monday. Participants also can register the day of the parade.

The Friendly Sons and Second Harvest are joining together to not just celebrate this day of green, but also collect food for the hungry. Paradegoers are urged to bring nonperishable food items or donate to Second Harvest. The food and money collected will help feed and support the more than 48,000 people who come to Spokane County food banks each week.

For registration forms, visit www.friendlysonsofstpatrick.com, call (509) 880-2785 or e-mail kim@mail.friendlysonsofstpatrick.com. For information about Friendly Sons, call (509) 534-1516, Ext. 11.

For information about Second Harvest and how you can help, call (509) 252-6259, e-mail jclark@2-harvest.org or visit www.2-harvest.org.

Spokane Valley

Crime watch conference on Tuesday

The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office will host a Neighborhood Watch Crime Prevention Conference on Tuesday at CenterPlace, 2426 N. Discovery Place. The event is open to the public. The cost of the daylong conference is $15, which includes a continental breakfast, lunch and materials.

Conference topics include home security, cyber stalking, crime scene investigation, personal safety, gangs and sex offender crimes. A boating safety class, now mandatory for many boaters, also will be offered during the day.

Class sizes are limited. For more information or to register, call 477-3055 or visit www.spokanesheriff.org and click on the Neighborhood Watch link.

West Central

Groups host speakers at potluck

Project HOPE, Riverfront Farms and Green Jobs Not Jails will host an evening conversation with Amy Grey, founder of Backyard Harvest, and Jackie Aitchison, the director of the Poulsbo Farmers Market and executive director of the Washington State Farmers Market Association, on March 13. The event will be held at Salem Lutheran Church, 1428 W. Broadway Ave., from 6 to 8 p.m.

Participants are asked to bring a potluck dish, salad or dessert to share with everyone in attendance.

The event is free and open to the public with one nonperishable donation to the Our Place Food Bank.

For more information visit www.projecthopespokane.com.

Lincoln Heights

Class on canning offered March 16

Spokane Parks and Recreation is offering a continuation course on the art of canning on March 16. The course will provide participants with the skills to get healthy, using old-fashioned methods and keeping “green.”

The Art of Canning – Water Bathing Technique will be held at the Southside Senior Activity Center, 3151 E. 27th Ave., from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. The cost for the class is $27, plus a $5 lab fee.

Call (509) 625-6200 or visit www.spokaneparks.org to register or for more information.