SWONA 6/18 Meeting Reminder

Plus 6/21 and 6/22 Neighborhood Garage Sale Prep

Author

Grace Fletcher
June 16, 2025

Hi neighbors,

Just a quick reminder that our June SWONA Mini-Meeting is coming up this Wednesday, June 18th at 7:00 PM at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church (1515 Harrison Ave NW). We’ve got a full agenda with updates and planning for several neighborhood projects and events:

SWONA General WhatsApp Group
Stay connected with your neighbors via the SWONA General WhatsApp group! It’s a quick way to ask questions, connect directly with neighbors, and get updates on what’s going on. We will spend some time before and after the meeting to help people get set up! 

Neighborhood Garage Sale Update – June 21 & 22
Our big neighborhood garage sale is coming up soon! Over 40 homes are participating so far, including the Capitol Apartments, who will be holding their own Courtyard Sale the same weekend. They’ve been added to our garage sale map here:

We’ll be using a portion of our June 18th meeting for any last-minute planning or coordination.

Yard sale flyers have been distributed—thank you to everyone who helped with that! We also ran a Facebook ad to help spread the word, which has generated a lot of interest. Reusable yard sale signs will be placed at the main entrance points to the neighborhood the week of the event. These signs don’t include dates or a map link, so we can reuse them for future SWONA sales.

While main signage is covered, anyone is welcome to make their own signs to place in front of their home or help direct traffic to their street—it’s a great way to boost visibility for your sale!

Community Garden Boxes/Gleaning

Four grant-funded community garden boxes have been installed (marked as black dots on the map), along with thirteen additional boxes that were self-funded or funded through other means (dark grey dots).  Six of these thirteen boxes are located within the Evergreen Vista complex through a build effort sponsored by GRuB and the Thurston County Conservation District last month. These may be reserved for use by Evergreen Vista residents, but I'm not 100% clear. If you're interested in helping with maintenance, we’d need to coordinate with Evergreen Vista management.

We’ve reached out to the City for guidance on placing garden boxes at homes without sidewalks or planting strips and are still waiting on a response.

In the meantime, if you have a planting strip and are interested in receiving a grant-funded community garden box, please reach out—there’s still funding available.

You can view the evolving Community Garden Box & Gleaning Map here:
Community Garden & Gleaning Map

More boxes and gleanable trees/bushes will be added over time.

SWONA Neighborhood Businesses

New page added to our website that highlights businesses owned and operated by SWONA neighbors — whether they’re located right here in our neighborhood or outside the SWONA neighborhood boundary. From artists and photographers to shops and service providers, these are businesses run by the people who make our community what it is.

By choosing to support neighbor-owned businesses, we’re helping keep talent, creativity, and resources circulating within our community — rather than flowing out to large corporations. It’s a small but meaningful way to strengthen the local economy and invest in each other.

We hope this page makes it easier to discover and support your neighbors’ work. If you're a SWONA neighbor and want your business listed, reach out — we'd love to include you!

Emergency Preparedness/Block Captain

We held our first Block Captain meeting last week, and it went well!

At the meeting, we reviewed the "Map Your Neighborhood" curriculum developed by Washington State Emergency Management. We're using this as the foundation to create our own customized version, tailored to the specific needs and layout of our neighborhood.

Thanks to grant funding from the Thurston County Community Sustaining Fund (CSF), we’ve purchased 16 GMRS radios from Midland to support this effort. Midland generously provided us with a sponsorship discount—cutting the cost to nearly half of the normal retail price.

We’re also working on the centralized first aid kit component of this initiative and are currently exploring options for obtaining free or deeply discounted kits through local partnerships and donation programs. If you have any leads or ideas, we’d love to hear them.

In addition, we’re hoping to identify any first responders, medical professionals, or neighbors with first aid training who would be willing to serve as a resource during emergencies—not necessarily as block captains, but as part of our preparedness network.

If you’re interested in becoming a block captain or want to get more involved, please let us know and/or feel free to drop in at today's meeting if you're available.

SWONA Yard Signs

If you'd like to place an "Ask Me About SWONA" yard sign in your front yard, we’ll have a limited number available at our June 18th meeting. Stop by and grab one to help spread the word and get more neighbors involved!  

SWONA Membership Dues Reminder
SWONA membership dues are accepted year-round and help support community events, outreach, and neighborhood improvement efforts.

You can pay by cash or check in person, or by check or PayPal using the link below:
Pay Your Dues Here

 Stay Updated Online

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Best,

Grace Fletcher, Treasurer