August events at the Village Green have exceeded expectation.

Participants in the much-anticipated Village Green Senior Apartments groundbreaking were treated to the sight of the nearly-complete picnic pavilion. Between the two accomplishments, there is a world of credit to be shared.

Local volunteers at the picnic pavilion top the list, especially Russell Bishop and Matt House as well as Hard Rock Inc., all of them professionals who donated their time and material to laying the concrete pad that became the foundation for the beautiful structure.

Brad Pugh did the architectural drawings gratis, and Miles Yanick also donated time to the design. Without the labor of Larry Anderson, Less Poole, Clint Boxman, Nick and Wendy Jewett, George Morgan, Dave Wetter, and Sonny Woodward, and the capable leadership of Jon Sole, this good-looking and functional addition to the community would still be a gleam in our collective eye.

As it is, readers will have been treated to its use during Pie in the Park Aug. 23, and will be impatiently waiting for the logs to cure so that they can have protective stain applied in time for use when the rains start again in late September.   Don’t forget to thank a local Rotarian for funding the pavilion, and thanks to all who have participated in the Rotary beer tent and other fundraisers — all of you contributed.

An occasion for celebration: The senior apartments groundbreaking was a momentous event and drew together current and former government officials who’ve been moving this project forward for four years; Martha & Mary, the project’s nonprofit partner, and their development partner Shelter Resources, Inc; and a spectrum of funders, from USDA to Key Bank.

Rounding out the participants were partners in the planned multipurpose community center, including a broad cross-section of community members, Kitsap Regional Library, the Village Green Foundation, and Kingston Super Seniors.

The sense of promise was palpable: Although the Village Green Senior Apartments are separately funded, this groundbreaking marked a beginning for the community center along with the apartment building, since funding for the community center allows the infrastructure work for both projects to be done simultaneously.

The community garden P-patch has also received an additional $3,000 grant, which will finance the deer fence and extend the irrigation system. We are grateful to Kitsap County Public Works, PUD, Rebecca Ifland, Eli Carter and Quasim el Mohamed for extending water to the site.

Who’s Who at the Village Green?
The Village Green Foundation and the Village Green Metropolitan Park District are alike in focusing their missions on the same public park and replacement community center — senior center, library, Boys & Girls Club — in Kingston.

The foundation is a nonprofit whose role is to design, finance and construct the community center. Cooperatively, they will oversee building and park use.

The park district is a public taxing district created to secure and administer funding to operate the park and community center. When the picnic pavilion is fully functional, there will be a reservation procedure in place at the park district website; look for a phone number and information at the park.

The foundation website is: www.kingstonvillagegreen.org. The park district website is www.myvillagegreen.org.

For more information on the foundation, contact Nick Jewett, njewett@whispercom.com. For more information on the park district, contact  Bobbie Moore, bobbie@myvillagegreen.org.

Both groups now meet monthly on the third Tuesday at the Miller Bay Road fire station:  the foundation at 4:30 p.m. and the park district at 6:30 p.m.