Another Wonderful Festival!

We have so much gratitude for all of our neighbors, volunteers and sponsors who helped us celebrate our annual Festival on Saturday September 28th! It was a lovely if slightly cool day filled with community. We had live music from Old Glory String Band, two youth bands from Seattle Drum School Georgetown – Paper Heart and Rocktopus, and were serenaded into the afternoon by the original sweet sounds of Brother Elmore. The apple press was ever popular and made possible with a generous donation of delicious apples from our friends at Collins Family Orchards (you can find them every Sunday at the Farmers Market in Ballard!). There was an abundance of curiosity, engagement, hula hooping, corn-holing and community. Thank you to all who joined us!

All of the fun wouldn’t be possible without the dedication of our amazing project leads, members, volunteers and community partners. We had project leads and volunteers from our following projects: Ballard Tool Library, Edible Garden Tour, Game & Puzzle Swap, Knitters for the Homeless, Idle Free Ballard, Free Letters Home, Market Gleaning and Bakery Gleaning. Thank you to the 35 volunteers who helped prior to our event, during the event, and afterwards. You are the true magic of our community! To choose to spend your valuable free time/talents helping others indicates the essence of those who make up our amazing community. Thank you for the bottom of our hearts!

In addition to amazing volunteers we want to acknowledge the incredible generosity and dedication of our many community partners. Sponsors BECU and Electric Folding Bikes NW generously supported this free community event at the highest level as boosters. At the event we had Gen Care Lifestyle Ballard Landmark sharing information about their lovely senior community on Leary in the heart of downtown Ballard, Mimi’s Zero Waste Market had a fun make art with bulk grains which was both beautiful and creative, Crown Hill Chiropractic had educational games and wellness info, Ruvtop shared their expertise on having a greener & healthier home, Chiro One provided complimentary posture/spinal screening, Citizens Climate Lobby Seattle shared their work towards encouraging people to use their personal and political power to address the national & global climate crisis, and Groundswell NW shared their vision of a new waterfront park at the street-end of 24th Ave NW. We hope you had the opportunity to interact with at least some of these amazing businesses/non-profits. Not all of our community partners could join us at the Festival this year so we thank them for their support and encouragement: Swanson’s , New Roots Organics, Limback Lumber, Old Stove Gardens, Hildegard, Majestic Bay Theatres, Firefly Kitchens, Town & Country Markets, San Fermo, Puget Sound Solar and Tilth Alliance. Thank you for your support of our community event!

We look forward to seeing you all again next September! Until then, please join us as members, volunteers, or at upcoming events. Together we can work towards a more sustainable future!