March 2007    
Upcoming Events
Roosevelt Elementary PTA Treasure Island Carnival and Auction!
Saturday, March 24, 4 to 7 pm, Roosevelt Elementary
Join us for a great time to benefit a great cause: the Roosevelt PTA!
Learn more

Roosevelt Time Garden Time Garden Concept

Time Garden Installation! Saturday, May 19, 9am to 2ish
In conjunction with Roosevelt's quarterly Make A Difference Day
 
More details coming soon! At this event, we'll be installing a Human Sundial in front of Roosevelt School and planting the Time Garden to celebrate the centennial of Roosevelt Elementary. NENA obtained a City of Olympia Neighborhood Matching Grant that is helping to pay for the Time Garden. 
 
We will also be doing the ongoing work of Roosevelt's quarterly Make A Difference Day so we can keep our school pesticide free. Please join us to help spruce up our neighborhood hub!
Mission Creek Park   
The Mission Creek Park Plan is final!
Thanks to everyone who participated in shaping the interim use plan for Mission Creek Park! It's been a very long road to get this milestone - from the original controversial plans to build  the "Rolling Fields" townhouses to the City's purchase of the property in 2001 as open space and finally to the adoption of an interim use plan this month. This plan will improve access to the park while protecting it's unique beauty and value as a wetland and providing habitat for birds, plants and animals. Work to improve access to the property will begin as early as March. 

Special thanks to Jonathon Turlove from the Olympia Parks Dept. for his dedication and commitment to this project. From the beginning he approached this effort as a collaborative project. He listened and was responsive to our ideas and interests and he got the plan done, and done on time. 

And extra special thanks goes to Tom Badger and Wendy Gerstel who have been the neighborhood's stewards of this property for more than 10 years. Their long-term vision and hard work were key to ensuring this natural gem is now protected, and will be preserved for us to enjoy today and for generations to come. Also key in this effort were Kelly McAllister, Peter Impara, Carri LeRoy, Carolyn Scafidi, Jack Horton, Mark Lally, Lowell Dickson, and Bill Kingrey. Thank you all for your extraordinary contributions.  

Walkability Issues Open House Flyer
Neighborhood Open House ~ Wednesday March 14 at Roosevelt, 5:30 to 7:30 pm
New sidewalks planned for Quince St. and San Francisco Ave.
Roosevelt Traffic Safety improvements  Neighborhood connectors

At this Open House, co-sponsored by the City of Olympia and the Northeast Neighborhood Association, City staff and NENA members were on hand to answer questions and to gather your ideas, comments, and suggestions about these projects. These neighborhood improvements promise to make it safer for students to get to school, and make it easier and more fun for all us to walk in the neighborhood. If you have questions about the Quince Street or SF sidewalk plans, contact  Sheri Zimny at the City of Olympia at 709-2734 - szimny@ci.olympia.wa.us

Roosevelt parking lot concept Participants also learned about the work of the Roosevelt Roadrunners Traffic Safety Improvement Team, a unique partnership between NENA, the City of Olympia, and the Olympia School District to improve the traffic flow at Roosevelt 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. Thank you!

 NENA Board

We will not have a NENA board meeting in March because we will be co-hosting the Neighborhood Open House (see above).
The next NENA Board meeting will be on Wednesday, May 16 from 7 to 9 pm in the Roosevelt Music Room. All are welcome!
A friendly appeal for new Board members...
We now have only four official Board members! We are truly a skeleton crew, taking on increasingly ambitious projects to make our colorful corner of Olympia even better. Over the years, lots of people have contributed to NENA's success at addressing serious community problems and to planning and hosting events that bring us together as neighbors to celebrate our great neighborhood. Our success is due in part to our proactive and long-term focus on high-priority issues and projects, issues like walkability and pedestrian and traffic safety, and projects like the Miller Ave. sidewalk and Mission Creek Park. Our approach has been to reach out to our neighbors to figure out what we want our neighborhood to become, and then partner with public agencies like the City of Olympia and the Olympia School District to turn our vision for the future into reality.  To sustain our focus, we need your help. Please consider joining our Board, or volunteering to help with specific projects. To learn more, contact any board member (listed below) or come to one of our meetings.
President, Treasurer, Scribe: Peter Guttchen
Vice President: currently vacant
Brains, Muscles, Tenacity: Cheryl and Doran Hougham, Mary Donaldson
Retiring from board (effective October 2006): Melinda Spencer, Mark Axtell
Web site content and maintenance donated by Melinda T. Spencer
You have important things to say.
helps you make every word count.
Your dedicated technical communication specialist, without the overhead!  

E-mail Melinda