This Saturday, June 24th, the Griffin Neighborhood Association invites you to join us and your neighbors at our annual Community Picnic. There will be food, music, entertainment for the whole family, raffle prizes, local vendors, and representatives from community groups, local businesses, and first responders.

Community Picnic
Saturday, June 24
12 noon to 4 PM
Prosperity Grange and Tin Cup Golf Driving Range

This year’s picnic will be at the Prosperity Grange and Tin Cup Golf Driving range, from 12 noon to 4 PM. Come and join us for lunch with burgers, hot dogs, and Kona Ice. Larry and Sandy Corbin, of the Lighthouse Alpaca Ranch, will bring some of their herd (did you know alpacas are a member of the camel family?). Magician John London will entertain and musical guests are The Possible Solutions and Cliff Rice.

Admission is free for current and new members of the Griffin Neighborhood Association, and their children. Non-members are $5 per adult/$10 per family. Admission includes picnic lunch.

We will be raffling off more than 30 different gift baskets!  Raffle tickets are only $1 or six tickets for $5. A silent auction will feature beautiful hand-turned wooden bowls and a vase, a karaoke party hosted by Twilight Karaoke, and a puppy starter kit.

Stroll the grounds and visit with representatives of local businesses such as Our Community Credit Union, The Nerdy Nana, Lux n’ Lather Soap Company, Endorian Guitarworks, and lots more. Learn more about public safety from the Griffin Fire Department, Thurston County Sheriff’s Office, and Washington State Patrol.

Could you give us a hand at this year’s picnic? We could use help from 9 AM till the cleanup at the end – any amount of time you can offer is appreciated! Click here to send us an email with your contact information and someone will be back to you, very quickly. Thank you so much, to all who have already volunteered!

Many thanks to some special sponsors of this year’s event. Local residents Bill and Karen Hurley donated a banner to help promote our community picnic. The Steamboat Trading Post made a generous donation of hot dogs and all the fixings. Thank you, too, to Bay Shore Construction for underwriting the cost of the comfort and washing stations.

We hope to see you at this year’s community picnic!

Thanks to the many volunteers, businesses, and local organizations that helped to make this year’s Community Picnic a success! Enjoy this photo essay of the afternoon and we hope you see you next year.

In addition to the supporters we named in our prior post, we want to especially thank these other businesses and individuals who also made donations that helped to make this year’s picnic possible:

This year’s Griffin Community Picnic is Saturday, June 25th, 12 noon to 4 PM, at the Prosperity Grange and in front of the Steamboat Driving Range. There will be games and family-friendly activities, vendor and non-profit booths, live music, a raffle, food, a fire truck from the Griffin Fire Department, and more.

The year’s musical guest is The Possible Solutions. Local artists Cliff and Ellen Rice will also perform. There will be a balloon artist and a glitter tattooist, too.

Our grill masters will provide hamburgers and hotdogs. Our special guest will be Xinh Dwelley. We’ll have soft drinks and there will be cookies and lemonade from the Griffin PTO. Don’t miss the dessert table!

A large selection of raffle items donated by many of our local businesses. The highest value gift baskets, including those donated by B&K Emergency Services and Chelsea Farms, are part of a silent auction.

Nearly 20 local vendors and non-profit organizations will be on-hand.

Griffin/Steamboat Peninsula Community Picnic
Saturday, June 25
12 noon to 4 PM
Prosperity Grange and the Steamboat Driving Range

1 to 3 – Balloon artist and glitter tattooist
1 to 2:15 – The Possible Solutions
2:15 to 2:45 – Cliff and Ellen Rice perform
2:45 to 4 – The Possible Solutions
All day – Games and activities

Admission is $5 for adults. Children and members of the Griffin Neighborhood Association are free. You can join the GNA at the picnic or join online before the event.

Come and enjoy the day with neighbors and friends!

Thank you to our sponsors!

A special thanks, too, to Carolyn Jones, whose donation to fund the purchase of food for this event is greatly appreciated.

Last summer’s annual community picnic was canceled. But we’re determined to safely hold a family-friendly picnic this September! Mark your calendars and, if you can, won’t you lend us a hand?

Annual Community Picnic
Sunday, September 12
12 noon to 4 PM
Prosperity Grange and Tin Cup Driving Range

Admission will be free to current members of the Griffin Neighborhood Association, $5 per adult for those of you who are not members. If you haven’t yet joined, or have allowed your membership to lapse, now is a great time to join us. It’s easy, and you can do that online with a secure credit card transaction. If you prefer, you can join by mail or at the picnic.

There’ll be food, activities for children and adults, and much more. What’s “much more”? Let me tell you.

Northwest Beerwerks will be setting up a beer and wine garden and offering beverages for sale.

Magician John London will be presenting his magic show. Afterward, he’ll be creating balloon animals for the kids.

This year’s musical guest will be the band The Possible Solutions. Plus, there will be an open mic! We’re already hearing from talented neighbors who are interested in performing. We have 15-minute slots still available. Contact Becky for available times and details. Then bring your instrument.

Local nonprofit organizations will be available to describe their programs and services. If you represent or work with a nonprofit servicing our area, contact Becky to learn how you can set up a table at our picnic.

In addition, there will be prizes from local businesses and our event sponsors. Many of these prizes are in the form of gift baskets that will be raffled off. For example, Chelsea Farms is assembling a shellfish picnic basket comprised of a blanket, two bottles of wine, and a gift certificate good for ten pounds of clams, 5 dozen oysters, and a geoduck. The entire basket is valued at $250!

Would you help us plan the picnic or can you help us the day of the event? We have another picnic organizing meeting scheduled for August 12. Contact us if you can help.

Many thanks to our current sponsors and we expect to be adding more to this list, in the coming weeks.

Bay Shore Construction

Loading Dock Supply, LLC

Steamboat Tennis & Athletic Club and Nicholson & Associates Insurance, LLC

Prosperity Grange

Do you operate a local business interested in a sponsorship at this year’s event? Contact us.

Thanks to the support of valued event sponsors, members of the Griffin Neighborhood Association, local businesses and organizations, and volunteers, this year’s community picnic provided a fine mid-summer event for friends and neighbors in the Griffin area.

This year’s picnic featured a wine and beer garden provided by NW Beerwerks. Local musicians Deb and Roger Hamilton provided live music. And area residents made donations to the St. Christopher’s Food Bank.

Special thanks to event organizers Becky Reavis, Mike Reavis, Joanie Zelasko, Dee Tropp, and Michelle O’Dell.

Many thanks, too, to the sponsors and donors who made this year’s Community Picnic possible. For a list of sponsors and links to their websites, see our prior piece about this event.

We hope to see you next year!

Please come join us for the 2019 GNA Community Picnic on July 20! This year’s event has it all: great food, live music, children’s activities, local businesses and farms, and much more. Brand new this year – drum roll please – a beer and wine garden provided by NW Beerwerks!

The picnic is held to foster community in the Griffin area. All community members are invited to attend.

Annual Community Picnic
Saturday, July 20
3 PM to 7 PM
Prosperity Grange and Tin Cup Golf Range

Current or newly joining Griffin Neighborhood Association members will receive a wristband for unlimited food and drinks. Non-members are asked to pay $5 per adult for wristbands while all children are free. Any new members joining the day of the picnic will be entered into a raffle for a $40 gift certificate donated by Character’s Corner.

Food offerings include hamburgers and hot dogs from your neighborhood grill masters, yummy seafood provided by Taylor Shellfish Farms, and assorted desserts. For $6 you can enjoy a refreshing adult beverage from NW Beerwerks. 10% of the profits from the tent sales of beer and wine will go to support the Prosperity Grange.

There are lots of great things for the kids to enjoy including a bouncy house, games, alpacas, and one of the Griffin Fire Department’s trucks!

Live music provided by Deb and Roger Hamilton.

Local businesses and farms use this event as a showcase. If your local business isn’t represented, but you would like more information about attending, click here to see our prior article. Sales of merchandise will be permitted.

Some of the businesses and local organizations we expect to be present are:

Capstar Solar
Cyndi Purvis Headband Scrunchies
Dogwoods Canine Play & Stay
Dreamscapes Landscape & Design
Feline Friends
Griffin Fire Department (complete with a DUNK Tank!)
Home Meat Service
Lighthouse Alpaca Ranch
Our Community Credit Union
Saint Christopher’s Community Church
Steamboat Island Cooperative Preschool
Steamboat Animal Hospital
Thurston County Master Gardeners
Thurston County Sheriff’s Office

Click on the business’ name, above, and sponsor logos below for more information.

An on-site food drive for the local St. Christopher’s Food Bank will be held. Bring two or more items from the list below and you will be entered into a gift drawing.

Canned food, especially protein type food

Paper towels

Toilet paper

Laundry soap

Dish soap

Personal items, such as shampoo and hand soap

Travel shampoo, conditioners, soap – the kinds of item sizes you pick up from hotels

Gift cards for gas or to the Grocery Outlet

Won’t you please help us to provide this event to our community? No big committments, just an hour of your time, then stay to enjoy the food and fun. Click here to volunteer for a job and a time slot. Tasks include set-up, tear-down, and lending a hand along the food line. Thanks to you, we’ll have a terrific community picnic this year! 

Many thanks to the sponsors and donors who are making this year’s Community Picnic possible.

It’s that time of year again. The annual Griffin Neighborhood Association Neighborhood Picnic will be held Saturday, July 20th at Prosperity Grange and the Tin Cup Golf Range. As in the past, we will have booth spaces available on a first come, first serve basis for businesses and organizations from around the Griffin/Steamboat Peninsula community.

We hope to have a big crowd attending this year. Every year, attendance has grown. We will have Live Music, a Bouncy House, children’s face painting, children’s games, and alpacas.

Hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, soft drinks, and desserts will be served. Taylor Shellfish will also be serving up their wonderful chowder and shellfish. Free food is all part of the deal for our Businesses and Organizations!

You will need to supply your own canopy, table, and chairs. The fee is $10 for businesses and free for non-profit organizations. Sales of merchandise are allowed for all.

If you would like to reserve a space for this event, please click here to download our application.

If you cannot attend, we gladly accept donations as all monies will go towards the picnic costs.

We are lucky to live in a community rich with a variety of businesses and organizations as well as such awesome people. This is an excellent way to showcase your group to all our neighbors.

Please feel free to contact Joanie Zelasko with questions or any additional information needed. We look forward to hearing from you!

A huge “thank you!” to all who attended this year’s community picnic, hosted by the Griffin Neighborhood Association. A special appreciation is extended to the sponsors who donated supplies, the volunteers who donated their time, and the many local businesses and organizations who participated.

This year’s picnic featured seafood prepared by Taylor Shellfish Farms and hamburgers and hotdogs prepared by volunteers and members of our Board. Drinks and chips were donated by the Steamboat Trading Post. The Island Market and Steamboat Trading Post provided the ice. Over at the driving range, the Salish Cliffs Golf Club hosted a game with prizes and there were kids’ games and face painting provided by the Steamboat Island Church. More than a dozen local businesses and organizations attended.

The Tin Cup Golf Driving Range and Steamboat Tennis & Athletic Club donated their facilities for the event. Thurston County Explorer Search & Rescue directed traffic, particularly into and out of the parking area. Wash facilities were provided by Island Johnny. Click here for a complete list of this year’s sponsors, with links to their websites.

Musical guests were Humor & Heart and dulcimer musician Ellen Rice.

Each year we strive to provide a picnic event our community wants. In order to do that, we need your feedback! If you attended the picnic, let us know what you enjoyed or didn’t, and what you would like to see added or changed for next year.

If you weren’t able to attend, what would it take to get you there, next year?

Please email us with your comments and suggestions.

Click for a larger image.

Perhaps the biggest event in the Griffin Neighborhood Association’s yearly calendar is the Community Picnic. On Saturday, July 21st we will again take over the lawn in front of the Tin Cup Golf Driving Range and overflow into Prosperity Grange with food and fun for the whole family. Come join your neighbors!

This year we’ll have live musical guests Humor & Heart. Local resident, Ellen Rice, will also perform with her mountain dulcimer.

Our popular bouncy house will be back, along with other kid’s activities: face painting, bag games, bubble stations, hula hoops and more. Try your skill on the golf driving range, with pro tips and prizes provided by the Salish Cliffs Golf Club.

Hamburgers, hot dogs, and beverages will be provided and, thanks to generous donations from Taylor Shellfish Farms, seafood dishes featuring the recipes of local favorite Xinh Dwelley will also be served.

A number of local organizations and businesses will provide information about their work and some great items for sale. Here are some of the local businesses and organizations who are expected to attend:

Bay Mercantile
Companion Cove
DiversiTree Arbor Care
Dogwoods Canine Play and Stay
Feline Friends
Griffin School Foundation
Lighthouse Alpaca Ranch
Melody Byrd Aprons
Nicholson Insurance
OCCU (Our Community Credit Union)
Rainbow Girls
St. Christopher’s Community Church
Stacy Lynn Wellness
Steamboat Animal Hospital
Steamboat Island 4H
Steamboat Island Cooperative Preschool
Steamboat Island United Methodist Church
Thurston County Master Gardeners FoundationRead More→

You are invited to join us this Sunday, July 30, for a community picnic at the Prosperity Grange and Tin Cup Golf Range!

There will be plenty of complimentary food, a showcase of local organizations and businesses, animals and activities for families, and a special musical guest.

Sunday, July 30
12 noon to 4 PM
Prosperity Grange and Tin Cup Golf Range

An illness prevents the Olympia duo, “Austin Radio“, from appearing at this year’s picnic. Instead, musicians Roger & Deb Hamilton will perform. Roger Hamilton crafts fine, handmade guitars at Hamilton Guitars in Rochester. Contact Roger at (253) 722-3442 or rahguitars@gmail.com for more information.

You won’t want to miss the delicious seafood dishes served by Xinh Dwelley, proprietor of the fabled Xinh’s Crab & Oyster House.

The Griffin Fire Department will hold a benefit car wash, this same day. Please come on by and get your car or truck washed, for a good cause.

Here’s a sample of some of the organizations and local businesses who will be attending:

• Emmit’s Magic Animal Rescue
• Empowerment4Girls
• Feline Friends
• Griffin School Foundation
• Mail Boss
• Nicholson & Associates Insurance
• Our Community Credit Union
• Olympia Host Lions Club
• Olympia Synchronized Swim Club
• Providence St. Peter Hospital Sexual Assault and Child Maltreatment Center
• Silver Service Transitions
• St. Christopher’s Community Church
• Steamboat Island 4H
• Steamboat Island Cooperative Preschool
• Steamboat Tennis & Athletic Club
• Thrive Life

And many more!

If you are a new member who joins the Griffin Neighborhood Association, at the picnic, your name will be entered into a drawing to win a $25 gift certificate donated by Character’s Corner.

The Olympia Host Lions Club are raffling off a 40-pound box of fresh fuji apples, to be delivered in October. Make sure you stop by their table to get entered into the raffle.

Special thanks to our event sponsors:

Character’s Corner

Island Johnny

Jay’s Farm Stand

Steamboat Trading Post

Taylor Shellfish Farms

Thurston County Explorer Search and Rescue

Tin Cup Driving Range

Xinh Dwelley

Lots of opportunities still exist, if you are able to volunteer to help with this event. There are tasks that take little time and people are needed to work for as little as an hour or so, the actual day of the picnic. For information about how you can help, please contact Becky at FurAcres@gmail.com

Bring your family and visit with your neighbors, enjoy a delicious meal, and listen to the sounds of Austin Radio at this free community event.