Volunteers enhance Sequim sites for Beautiful Day

By Matthew Nash • May 3, 2023 1:30 am
Sequim Gazette photos by Matthew Nash At Sequim Food Bank, volunteers, from left, Kevin Wilson, Betty Gwaltyney, Corky Schadler, Melody Wilson, John Matson, and Melissa Vemi with Sequim Community Church, worked together to build two planters, fill them with dirt and plant lavender for Sequim Beautiful Day. Not pictured was Steve Gale.
Sequim Gazette photos by Matthew Nash At Sequim Food Bank, volunteers, from left, Kevin Wilson, Betty Gwaltyney, Corky Schadler, Melody Wilson, John Matson, and Melissa Vemi with Sequim Community Church, worked together to build two planters, fill them with dirt and plant lavender for Sequim Beautiful Day. Not pictured was Steve Gale.

Painting, planting, scrubbing and more were on the checklists of more than 100 volunteers for Sequim Beautiful Day.

The fifth-annual event brought volunteers from churches, civic organizations and businesses to help at Greywolf and Helen Haller Elementary schools, Olympic Christian School, Sequim’s Boys & Girls Club, Sequim Food Bank, and a home on the 300 block of West Alder Street.

Some of the many projects included painting the Helen Haller cafeteria and making general yard improvements at some sites.

Volunteers joined work in progress by the Sequim Sunrise Rotary and Habitat for Humanity of Clallam County at the Alder Street house to clean flower beds, plant fruit trees, and paint the exterior.

Eric Mahnerd with Sequim Sunrise Rotary said their volunteers had 134 hours into the project leading up to Saturday’s event, and they anticipate about another 50 hours to finish repairs and replace the deck.

The project was funded by a Rotary District grant in partnership with Sequim Sunrise Rotary, and it also served in conjunction with the Rotarians’ Earth Day Project, said Rotarian Becki Roberts.

Beautiful Day started in the Silicon Valley region in 2004 by churches and various partners to help their community, and the idea was brought to Sequim in 2017 with a two-year break during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Participating churches were Calvary Chapel Sequim, Dungeness Community Church, Sequim Community Church, and Sequim Valley Foursquare. Rotarians, Habitat volunteers and members of the Michael Trebert Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution also helped.

After painting a Boys & Girls Club bathroom, Rebecca Tenzythoff with Sequim Community Church said it was her first time helping with the event and found it to be a good opportunity to show how local agencies/groups need volunteers year-round. “People just need to reach out, whether with a church or not,” she said.

For more about Sequim Beautiful Day, visit sequimbeautifulday.org and see more photos at facebook.com/SequimBeautifulDay.

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Sequim Sunrise Rotary volunteers, from left, Becki Roberts, Chris Coolures, and Eric Mahnerd are all smiles as they continue to paint the exterior of a Sequim home for a mother and her son. Mahnerd said Rotarians and Habitat for Humanity volunteers had 134 hours into the project leading up to Saturday’s Sequim Beautiful Day event, and they anticipate about another 50 hours to finish repairs and replace the deck. <ins>The trio are also nicknamed “Little Ladder,” “Short Ladder,” and “Tall Ladder,” they said. </ins>

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Sequim Sunrise Rotary volunteers, from left, Becki Roberts, Chris Coolures, and Eric Mahnerd are all smiles as they continue to paint the exterior of a Sequim home for a mother and her son. Mahnerd said Rotarians and Habitat for Humanity volunteers had 134 hours into the project leading up to Saturday’s Sequim Beautiful Day event, and they anticipate about another 50 hours to finish repairs and replace the deck. The trio are also nicknamed “Little Ladder,” “Short Ladder,” and “Tall Ladder,” they said.

Joanne Meinzen with Sequim Community Church, left, and Kathy Schreiner, with both the church and Sequim Sunrise Rotary, work to clean out a flower bed at a home during the Sequim Beautiful Day event on April 29. Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Joanne Meinzen with Sequim Community Church, left, and Kathy Schreiner, with both the church and Sequim Sunrise Rotary, work to clean out a flower bed at a home during the Sequim Beautiful Day event on April 29.

Joanne Meinzen with Sequim Community Church, left, and Kathy Schreiner, with both the church and Sequim Sunrise Rotary, work to clean out a flower bed at a home during the Sequim Beautiful Day event on April 29. Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Joanne Meinzen with Sequim Community Church, left, and Kathy Schreiner, with both the church and Sequim Sunrise Rotary, work to clean out a flower bed at a home during the Sequim Beautiful Day event on April 29.

Tim Richards, lead pastor with Dungeness Community Church, helps paint a wall inside Helen Haller Elementary’s cafeteria.

Tim Richards, lead pastor with Dungeness Community Church, helps paint a wall inside Helen Haller Elementary’s cafeteria.

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ John Campbell with Dungeness Community Church paints a wall inside Helen Haller Elementary’s cafeteria during Sequim Beautiful Day. It was his first time helping with the event, he said.

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ John Campbell with Dungeness Community Church paints a wall inside Helen Haller Elementary’s cafeteria during Sequim Beautiful Day. It was his first time helping with the event, he said.

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Volunteers place bark at an Alder Street home during Sequim Beautiful Day on April 29.

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Volunteers place bark at an Alder Street home during Sequim Beautiful Day on April 29.

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Rebecca Tenzythoff with Sequim Community Church, cleans walls after painting a bathroom at the Sequim Boys & Girls Club. She said it was her first time helping with the event and encourages locals to reach out to local organizations and schools to volunteer as they need help year-round.

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Rebecca Tenzythoff with Sequim Community Church, cleans walls after painting a bathroom at the Sequim Boys & Girls Club. She said it was her first time helping with the event and encourages locals to reach out to local organizations and schools to volunteer as they need help year-round.