By Village Green Foundation
Nearby you’ll find an ad thanking the many community volunteers who contributed to the amazing success of our third annual Pie in the Park auction.

It should also be noted that Randy Bauer of Randy-Kan came to our rescue by providing a special servicing of the Randy-Kan at the park before the event; more on the Randy-Kan service later. And it’s good to recall that the Village Green park is being mowed and tended by a group of dedicated volunteers who keep it looking beautiful.

As you will have seen by now, the event raised more than $12,500, counting matching donations, and all of that money will be put to use building our new community center/library/Boys & Girls Club/senior center.

On the fundraising front: We learned in September that we are on the right track to be able to make full use of the state Building Communities Fund grant, hopefully starting next year.

To begin drawing on that grant — it’s a reimbursement grant — we will need to raise the remaining $3 million required to construct the building. We plan a full-fledged capital campaign (shorthand for a campaign directed at raising money for a building) starting early next year, and we’re doing the planning  under the guidance of Boys & Girls Clubs of Snohomish County, which oversees our club at the Kingston Middle School. So please be on the lookout for announcements and gatherings in the next couple of months pertaining to laying a foundation for the capital campaign.  If you know already that you want to participate in the capital campaign, e-mail Bobbie Moore at info@kingstonvillagegreen.org.

The other condition for drawing on the state grant is property control. We have met with County Commissioner Rob Gelder and staff members many times on the proposed property transfer to the Village Green Metropolitan Park District. Then the MPD can negotiate a 30-year lease with the Village Green Foundation and that condition will be satisfied. With just a little luck, we should have that condition satisfied by the end of 2011.

GrantsYou might remember that the foundation held several workshops in the spring about grant-writing. Several people who went through that series of workshops and participated in our first grant submissions (no word yet on whether those applications were successful) are leading the charge to complete additional grant applications for permitting costs, lighting plans, and a second playground at the park. They are also collaborating with Kitsap Regional Library and Boys & Girls Clubs of Snohomish to determine who will apply for grants that could be specifically targeted to grant-makers likely to fund the library or the Boys & Girls Club or the senior center. If you would like to participate in grant-writing for any of these aspects of the project, contact Nick Jewett at info@kingstonvillagegreen.org.

Talking trashThe Village Green Metropolitan Park District plans to begin paying for trash service at the park.  We had intended to stick to a pack-it-in, pack-it-out policy, but that’s only been marginally successful. By the end of the year, the MPD commissioners will have implemented some park-use policies that will ask planners of park events to take responsibility for extra trash generated — i.e., bag it and take it home. In the meantime, we will find the lowest-cost way to put two small trash cans at the park that will be serviced weekly.

Also: Please, please do not put trash in the Randy-Kan. It cannot be readily serviced with trash in it. And please, please do pick up after your dog.