People & Projects

To make sure our Welcome Spot is maintained in a manner befitting the beauty of our neighborhood and the respect of those of us who live and walk in it -- * Barb Day is our new TWP #1 Supervisor. She'll check The Welcome Spot the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month. If it appears to need more than 30 minutes worth of care, she will set up a workday for the following Sunday from 1:00-2:00 and will contact everyone who signed up for the garden committee. She will also post a notice at swona2007@yahoo.com.  (To sign up for the garden committee, send an email to Barb at swona2007@yahoo.com.)  Comment from Barb:  "We had a great workday last Sunday March 22...the #1 spot on The Walking Park is looking very Welcoming indeed."

We'll be adding a section on the "People and Projects" button for networking groups that form in the neighborhood.  Things we have talked about include: A Childcare group where those who are looking for babysitters and childcare can connect with teens and others in the neighborhood who are doing babysitting and childcare. Share an interest would be a way for people to connect with one another in the neighborhood -- as walking partners; to find a partner for chess, tennis, etc.; to play music or even to trade project help:  you come hold the ladder while I work on my roof and I'll come help you when you're sheetrocking the basement. As always, bring your ideas to a SWONA meeting...or contact SWONA through swona2007@yahoo.com.

Derek Valley, member of both SWONA and the Kiwanis, is looking for SW neighbors to help raise food in their summer gardens for the Olympia Food Bank.  The idea is to set aside a section of the garden for specific kinds of crops.  Another possibility Derek is looking into is to organize a team to manage the #3 Garden Spot off Caton Way with the aim of contributing to the Food Bank.  The favored crops are things like potatos, onions, carrots and other root vegetables that can be "deer proof" and also fun for families to help harvest.  The Kiwanis has a garden at Kaiser and 11th that has raised over 6 tons of vegetables each summer -- amounting to 70% of the Food Bank's supply of fresh vegetables.  Because of the effects of the current economic downturn, more people are turning to the food bank.  Learn more about the project at the SWONA Annual Meeting (Mar 19, 7pm, Gloria Dei) or contact Derek through swona2007@yahoo.com.

[Beginning in 2008, the City of Olympia created a new award to recognize people and organizations that have contributed improvements to the environment in our neighborhoods. Nominations were invited in August, and Shanna Winters was recognized from our SW Neighborhood. Keep this in mind and next summer, think about sending in a nomination!] Here is why the city recognized Shanna: Shanna has transformed her 60-ft lot into a drought-tolerant paradise that she uses to teach us about the possibilities of beautifying our yards without relying on a lot of water. She volunteers her time once a week at Dirt Works to teach composting; she gave a composting workshop at last year's combined Gloria Dei and Neighborhood picnic and is always ready to answer questions or trouble-shoot problems. Along with Roger Auman she is organizing the plantings to be installed at the "Welcome Spot" that is part of our neighborhood "Walking Park Project,"and has gotten the Master Gardeners to donate a pickup load of plants. She and ... advised us on soil, soil amendments and configuration, and Shanna will oversee the planting in October. But most astonishing, she is steadily turning 6th Ave. SW into a year-round homeland for rufous hummingbirds. She started with her yard, where one can often seen 4 or 5 hummingbirds at a time, some sitting on a spindly tree branch for long minutes. It is a regular spot for them. Shanna encouraged neighbors on both sides of her house to learn about and set up feeders. Now she is moving on to the next the block to get more of us to become part of our own, local SW Olympia "hummingbird zone."