Election Day is November 3, Ballots to be Mailed Oct 8

It’s election season! Here’s what you need to know this year to vote smart.

Important Dates

Click on the image for a larger version.

To the right is a table from the County Elections website. Ballots will be mailed October 8. The ballot drop boxes will be locked at 8 PM on November 3.

Your Voter Registration

If you are not yet registered to vote there’s still time. Click here to register online. The last day to register online is October 26, but you should plan to register as soon as you can. After that date, you can register all the way up to Election Day. For more information about voter eligibility, updating your registration, or canceling it, see this web page. This page also contains information useful if you would like to update your voter registration because of a name or signature change.

If you have moved or changed your name, click here to update your current voter registration online.

You can confirm your voter registration status online or by calling the County Auditor’s Elections team at (360) 786-5408.

You can contact Thurston County Elections directly at elections@co.thurston.wa.us and by phone at (360) 786-5408. 711 Washington Relay. Visit ThurstonVotes.org for in person hours and
locations.

From October 14 though November 3 the Elections Office has a service center opened. It is located at South Puget Sound Community College Mottman Campus, 2011 Mottman Rd SW, Olympia.

Click image for a larger version.
Read More

Mason Transit Authority Returns Limited Saturday Service

The Mason Transit Authority has returned limited Saturday service, including service on Route 6, which runs between Shelton and Olympia. This service, now running Monday through Saturday, allows Steamboat Peninsula residents to call ahead to get the bus to make a stop. Just call Mason Transit at 360-427-5033 and request that a bus pull off US-101, either heading to Olympia or to Shelton.

The bus will stop at different locations, depending on whether you are heading to Olympia or heading toward Shelton.

If you are heading to Olympia, the bus will stop at the corner of Whittaker Rd. NW/Steamboat Island Rd. and Old Highway 101 NW. In the illustration below, you can see the little blue bus symbol marking that location.

If you are heading to Shelton, the bus will stop on Sexton Dr. NW, in front of the Island Market.

Here is a link to the timetable running from Shelton to Olympia. The bus continues from Steamboat Island to Westside of Olympia, Mud Bay Rd, Harrison Ave, and the Olympia Transit Center.

And here is a link to the timetable running from Olympia to Shelton. The bus leaves the Olympia Transit Center and its first stop will be at Steamboat Island. From there is goes on to the Kamilche Transit Center, Cole Rd Park & Ride, Shelton Outfitters, Transit-Community Center, and Kneeland Plaza (7:40PM Route only).

The fare is $1.50 one-way, Seniors (65+) are $0.50 and children under age 6 ride free. Exact change is required.

Griffin School K-5th Grade “Drive Through Parade” Tuesday, September 8

If you have a child at Griffin School, Kindergarten through 5th Grade, this Tuesday’s “Drive Through Parade” is for you!

Load up the kids and drive them through the school parking lot to come and “meet” their teachers! Make a sign with your child’s name and his/her teacher’s name so we can find each other! Teachers will gather by grade level with clear signage to help locate them. Other staff will join to wave hello. Please wear a mask when you drive through to say a quick hello to Griffin Staff! We cannot wait to see all of your happy faces. We are ready to kick off our new school year!

Back to School
Welcome to the School Year Drive Through Parade
Tuesday, September 8
4:30 PM to 5:30 PM
Griffin School bus loop

GNA Board Members Prepare BBQ for Griffin Fire First Responders

We all feel safe in our beautiful Steamboat community and that is in great part because of our wonderful first responders. The Board of the Griffin Neighborhood Association wanted to show our gratitude to them by cooking up and serving a meal. It pales in comparison to the risks they all take for us, but it definitely came from our hearts.

We were able to do this for them on Saturday, August 22nd. We also took this opportunity to welcome our new fire chief, Corey Rux. What a great time we all had getting to know one another and making plans for future endeavors together. We even managed to have some ‘entertainment’ of sorts after we ate. Did someone say Karaoke? Yes, they did and a few brave souls brought even more joy to the day with a song or two.

Fire Chief Corey Rux

Fire Chief Corey Rux

Thanks to all of the board members that participated and to our fire chief and crew, it was a perfect day.

For more information about the Griffin Fire Department, click here to see their website (check out their free services and resources page). You can email them at admin@griffinfd.org or give them a call at 360-866-9000. Their office hours at the Headquarters (3707 Steamboat Loop NW) are 7:30 AM to 3:30 PM, Monday through Friday.

Local Resident Peter Reid’s New Book is “Every Hill a Burial Place”

Click the image to see event details.

This September, local resident Peter Reid’s latest book, Every Hill a Burial Place, will be available.

In 1966, Peace Corps Volunteer Peverly “Peppy” Kinsey mysteriously fell while out on a picnic with her husband, Bill. The two were both volunteers for the Peace Corps in Tanzania. Local authorities arrested Bill and charged him with murder as witnesses came forward claiming to have seen the pair engaged in a struggle, a bloody iron bar was found near the scene. The incident had the potential to be disastrous for both the Peace Corps and the newly independent nation of Tanzania.

Reid, who was also a Peace Corps Volunteer in Tanzania at the time, has exposed inconsistencies and biases in the case and a prosecution “severely overmatched” by the resources the defense brought in to argue for Bill Kinsey’s acquittal.

“Peter Reid has written a meticulously researched and fascinating true story about the ambiguous death of a female Peace Corps volunteer in Tanzania in the 1960s and the subsequent prosecution of her husband, a fellow Peace Corps volunteer, for murder. Equally compelling is the backstory about a range of issues receiving intense local and worldwide attention, including calls to “send in the Marines” to rescue the accused, an apparent lack of concern about justice for the deceased, and the perception of special treatment for a white American in a newly independent African nation.” — Skip McGinty, 1960s Peace Corps Africa Volunteer and Peace Corps Country Director, Oman

You can order a copy at Orca Books or online, on Amazon.

Peter H. Reid, past member of the Griffin Neighborhood Association and one of the principal organizers of the Steamboat Conservation Partnership, is also the retired founding director of the Community Law Clinic at Stanford Law School. Peter previously served for more than thirty years as executive director of the Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County. He lives here on the Steamboat Peninsula and in Santa Cruz, California, with his wife Barbara.

Local Business Funds Purchase of “Steamboat Neighborhood” Stickers

 

Bay Shore logo art

Those popular “Steamboat Neighborhood” stickers are once again available, thanks to a generous donation by Bay Shore Construction. Stickers are now being distributed at several business locations around the Steamboat Peninsula.

We are grateful a supply of the Steamboat Neighborhood stickers could be produced, because of the support of a local business.

Bay Shore Construction has provided septic, water, and sewer excavating services since 1989. Find out why they say, “Modern technologies. Exceeding expectations.” Call them at (360) 866-9200 for an estimate. Bay Shore’s project manager and estimator, Brandon Thompson, is also available at brandon@bayshoreconstructionoly.com  Bay Shore is one of the local businesses in our online business directory.

These stickers can be seen on cars, trucks, and boats. And they’ve not only been seen locally, but out of state, too.

Click here to read more about the unique Steamboat Neighborhood artwork.

You can pick up your sticker at Companion Cove, Island Market, Steamboat Trading Post, Urraco Coffee, Steamboat Health & Wellness, Sunrise Hair Design, Steamboat Animal Hospital, Subway, the Steamboat Coffee Shop, Steamboat General Store, Character’s Corner, Our Community Credit Union, and Flowers By Kristil.

Thanks, again, to Brandon Thompson and Bay Shore Construction, for making available a new supply of these stickers.

Mason Transit Proposal Will Increase Stops Available to Steamboat Area Riders

As some of you may be aware, Mason Transit Authority operates bus service between Shelton and Olympia. Service runs Monday through Saturday. This is Mason Transit’s Route #6. On this route, a “call-requested” stop is available on the Steamboat Peninsula. This means riders can contact Mason Transit at 360-427-5033 and request that a bus pull off US-101, either heading to Olympia or to Shelton.

When you are heading from Olympia to the Steamboat Peninsula, you can simply ask your driver to make the stop at Steamboat Peninsula.

The bus will stop at different locations, depending on whether you are heading to Olympia or heading toward Shelton.

If you are heading to Olympia, the bus will stop at the corner of Whittaker Rd. NW/Steamboat Island Rd. and Old Highway 101 NW. In the illustration below, you can see the little blue bus symbol marking that location.

If you are heading to Shelton, the bus will stop on Sexton Dr. NW, in front of the Island Market.

At the current time, the schedule for this service along US-101 starts weekday mornings with the earliest call-requested stop on the Steamboat Peninsula at about 9 AM. Saturday service begins at about 8 AM.

To estimate the Steamboat Peninsula arrival times when heading to Olympia, just add about 5 minutes to the time at the Kamilche Transit Center, on the chart below.

Click on the image, to see Mason Transit’s web page for Route 6 from Shelton to Olympia.

Click here to see the timetable for Route 6, heading from Olympia to the Steamboat Peninsula. For this trip, subtract about 10 minutes from the Kamilche Transit Center arrival time, just to be on the safe side.

Mason Transit is now proposing to expand their service in our area.

If the proposal is accepted, the number of times you can take a bus will expand dramatically. See the proposed timetables below.

A series of two public hearings is scheduled to receive comments on the proposed service changes. A hearing will take place in Shelton on Tuesday, December 10. Click here for details, if you would like to attend the hearing.Read More

Join Us for Bunco, November 12

Last month’s game night was such fun, we’re going to do it this month, too!

Join us on Tuesday, November 12, at Prosperity Grange, where we’ll be playing bunco again.

We will have some snacks and water available but feel free to bring your favorites to share.

The games go from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm.

Bunco Night
Tuesday, November 12
6:30 PM to 8:30 PM

Prosperity Grange
3701 Steamboat Island Rd. NW

Are you unfamiliar with the game of Bunco? Here’s a link to one of the many web pages that describe Bunco game play.

 

Food Drive at Steamboat Animal Hospital and Steamboat Tennis & Athletic Club

Thurston County Food Bank logoThe entire month of November, two local businesses – Steamboat Animal Hospital and Steamboat Tennis and Athletic Club – will be available to take your donations of food and winter supplies. These donations go far to help families living right here in the Griffin area. These are distributed by St. Christopher’s Community Church. As many of you already know, St. Christophers is our local satellite for the Thurston County Food Bank.

Each location will have two boxes for your donation. One is for people and pet food and the other for warm, winter weather gear (hats, gloves, scarves, stocking caps, socks, etc.).

Here is a list of the most sought-after items:

  • Canned protein (tuna, chicken, beef stew, salmon, ravioli, spam)
  • Peanut butter
  • Canned fruit in natural juice
  • Canned soups (meat and vegetarian)
  • Boxed cereals
  • Macaroni and cheese, ramen soup
  • Canned chili (meat and vegetarian)
  • Canned vegetables
  • Oatmeal packets
  • Single-serving snacks (chips, cookies, crackers, and fruit snacks)
  • Granola bars
  • Laundry soap
  • Dish soap
  • Baby wipes
  • Baby diapers (all sizes)
  • Shampoo and conditioner
  • Toothpaste
  • Toothbrushes
  • Toilet paper
  • Deodorant
  • Winter weather gear (warm hats, gloves, scarves, stocking caps, socks, etc.)
  • Dog and cat food (both dry and wet)

You are invited to drop your donations during regular business hours at:

Steamboat Animal Hospital
6531 Sexton Dr NW

Steamboat Tennis and Athletic Club
3505 Steamboat Island Road NW

The Griffin Neighborhood Associations thanks these two local businesses for their continued support of our community and for sponsoring the November food drive.

You are Invited to Bunco Night Tuesday, October 15th

The days are shorter and the skies are cloudier. What better time for an evening of fun, indoor activity? The Griffin Neighborhood Association invites you to do just that!

On Tuesday, October 15th, we will be hosting our first community game night. It will be held from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm at the Prosperity Grange Hall, 3701 Steamboat Island Rd NW. We will be playing a rousing game of Bunco!

Light snacks and water will be available but feel free to bring a snack of your own to share and the beverage of your choice.

We are hoping to make this a monthly event throughout the fall and winter months, having a different choice of games each time. This is a great way to meet your neighbors and have some fun!

Bunco Night
Tuesday, October 15
6:30 PM to 8:30 PM

Prosperity Grange
3701 Steamboat Island Rd. NW

Are you unfamiliar with the game of Bunco? Here’s a link to one of the many web pages that describe Bunco game play.

We hope to see you at Bunco Night.