June/July 2007   

 
Mission Creek Park  Mission Creek Trail Map  
Have you checked out the new boardwalk and trails in this magnificent new park in our neighborhood? Go to the east end of San Francisco Ave. and enter a different world. Wow.
Work Party! Saturday, July 21, 9 to noon
Click on the sombrero for work party details!
Please consider joining your neighbors and City stormwater staff to spread mulch and monitor the water quality of Mission Creek.
An invitation from the City to help collect insect samples at Mission Creek
The data obtained from these samples is used to assess the health of streams in the region. Usually volunteers attend a 3-hour training for this activity. This is a trial to see if volunteers, under the supervision of staff, can perform the protocol without lengthy training. The task requires 3 to 4 people to accompany city staff to carefully follow instructions to collect 9 samples of insects in the stream. 
The insect samples are collected by stirring the stream bottom for 1 minute for each sample and carefully wiping rocks in the test area. Collecting the samples takes about 2 hours. Then we will come back to City of Olympia Smith Building to prepare the sample for shipment to the lab. This usually takes another hour, but please be prepared to stay longer if needed. We provide food for the volunteers at the Smith Building. Call Patricia at 360-570-5841 to sign up. 

Roosevelt Time Garden Installation Make A Difference Day photo gallery

Before - June 2006
After! June 2007, with sundial gnomon mosaics

 

Our work party on Saturday, May 19 was fun, productive, and totally worth the effort to let community members plant thyme and move dirt. Thanks to ALL members of our neighborhood and school communities who showed up and worked hard to make a difference! Wondering how to use the human sundial? Here are instructions provided by Pam Turlove.

Curious about the details of this year-long effort? Check out this timeline, sign and Project Summary that details our real vs. reimbursed expenditures.

Walkability Issues  Walk & Roll to School Day photo gallery
Active Communities Efforts at Roosevelt   
This spring, NENA sponsored several activities (described in the May homepage) to encourage Roosevelt students to get active and stay healthy using a portion of our Healthy Steps Active Communities grant from the Thurston County Health Department.
 
Our final event this school year on Monday, June 4 was a Fun Run that NENA co-sponsored with the American Diabetes Association. Students walked around the school's perimeter to get some great exercise and earn close to $5,000 for diabetes research! Diabetes Walk photo gallery
 
Roosevelt Elementary Parking Lot Proposal Roosevelt parking lot concept
Great strides on this project, too! Parametrix is completing engineering drawings, which we will use when applying for grant monies this summer to get the job done.
 
Please note that we've changed the travel route for the large buses. To avoid having to lay new asphalt for a bus turn-around area, we are now proposing that the large buses enter the school grounds through the current driveway on Garrison, let the students off at the playshed, then exit the school grounds through a new driveway on Garrison, located on the north end of the unused bus pullout on Garrison. This change is NOT reflected in the Roosevelt parking lot concept. Details of the proposal are provided in this newsletter article.
 
A unique partnership between NENA, Roosevelt staff, the City of Olympia, and the Olympia School District to improve the traffic flow at Roosevelt is working to make it safer for students to get to school by separating school buses, cars, bicycles and pedestrians. The work of this team is supported in part by a grant from the Thurston County Health Dept.'s STEPS program, a program that funds community efforts to prevent and reduce obesity, diabetes and asthma. Please check out this proposed plan and use this comment sheet if you have suggestions, concerns, or kudos. Thanks!
 
Howard Avenue Neighborhood Connector Trail Design
We're moving forward! Engineering firm Parametrix has mapped the property boundaries along the Howard Ave. trail, which will provide a safe alternative for students and neighbors who walk between East Bay Drive and Reeves Middle School. Now we can begin finalizing the trail alignment and design. This work is being supported by our Healthy Steps Active Communities grant from the Thurston County Department of Health.
 
 
NENA Board
We June meeting was held on Wednesday, June 13 from 7 to 9 pm in the Roosevelt Music Room. We've completed several significant projects this school year and will take a break from our regular board meeting in July.
 
Our next meeting will be on Wednesday, August 15 from 7-9 in one of our backyards. We will be planning our annual fall potluck, which will be on Wednesday, September 12, at Friendly Grove Park! All are welcome. Please e-mail Peter Guttchen or Melinda Spencer for additional details.

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