Toledo Saturday Market Photo Courtesy of Chuck Reynolds

“Vendors were quite pleased with Toledo’s first  Saturday market of the season. There were lots of customers, good music, and the weather couldn’t have been more perfect.”, reported coordinator Tonya Lovell.

New this year is the addition of Toledo High School kids selling the fruits of their horticulture labor at the market. The high school’s hoop house has gone from shabby to productive all in the matter of a few short months under the watchful eyes of Ag/Science teacher John Ball and volunteer extraordinaire Chuck Reynolds. As pointed out by Deidre Dillon, who spearheaded the program, “This is a true testimony to the talent we have here in the greater Toledo area.”

Students have been part of this project since the very first site preparation, hoop house repair, seed sowing and germination, growing, transplanting and now marketing.

It was a fantastic first year for the Toledo School Garden Initiative Program at the high school, and there are still some great starts left for sale such as Tomatoes, chili peppers, spinach and greens. For more information contact John ball at jball@toledo.k12.wa.us. All proceeds support this wonderful initiative.

The Lewis County Senior Health and Safety Event is April 28^th from 9am to noon at the Toledo Elementary School. The annual event focuses on resources for seniors. Coordinators and vendors provide information, multiple screenings, and a free lunch.

Wine, Cheese and Beer Garden for Cheese Days

Many of us have been thinking cheese needs to be brought back to the forefront for Toledo’s annual Cheese Days celebration. Vision: TOLEDO is excited to announce the first ever Wine, Beer, & Cheese Tasting Garden Saturday July 14^th from 4 until 8pm in downtown Toledo. The event will feature local vendors such as St. Helens Brewery, Bateaux Cellars both located in the greater Toledo area and other vendors from neighboring communities. The one exception will be Liberty Lake Wine Cellars located in eastern Washington. The reason this vintner is included in the local line-up is it is owned and operated by Toledo High School Alum Shelly (Reed) Smith. This is a great chance for everyone to celebrate Toledo’s rich farming heritage as well as to support local businesses and artisans. Any proceeds from the event will benefit Vision:TOLEDO.

Second Annual Vision: CLEAN UP TOLEDO

Mark your calendars for another important date for Toledo. Saturday June 2nd is our second annual Vision: CLEAN UP TOLEDO. Last year’s event showcased the Toledo pride we’ve come to expect over the years. It was so nice to drive through town and see everything clean and spruced up just in time for the summer, when the town sees the most traffic from events and those passing through on their way to Mt. St. Helens. It shows that we care and have a great sense of community. If you have any suggestions for this year’s  efforts, please contact Mike Stavig mikes@toledotel.com.

Toledo School District Horticulture Update

Students at Toledo High School have been working hard on the new horticulture project.The greenhouse at the high school was given much needed overhaul. The new grow beds and planter boxes have been constructed by THS students. Already this week tomato starts have been transplanted and lettuce is growing. Recent photos can be found on our facebook page. Meanwhile down at the grade school, students are gearing up to start their planting. Master Gardner Bob Taylor, from Washington State University’s Master Gardener Program has been giving monthly workshops to the elementary students. Topics include recycling and cover worm composting, pollinators, trees, seeds, and ends with potting plants the students have grown from seed.

Toledo Saturday Market Kickoff

Toledo Saturday Market is set to begin May 12th and will be held ever 2nd and 4th Saturday through September. New vendors welcome. Call Tonya at 864-2121.

Student volunteers Hayden Hull, Raul Raul Plancarte, Wendell Vallejo, and Makardi Hatch plant around 200 Roma tomato seeds in the newly revitalized greenhouse at Toledo High School.

An old, abandoned greenhouse is finding new life at Toledo High School.

The school’s greenhouse project is part of a larger plan to cultivate a horticulture program for the Toledo School District, which is spearheaded by community volunteers Deidre and Stephan Dillon. Within the past few weeks, there have been signs of progress at both the high school and elementary school in preparing for the fast-approaching growing season.

Just a few weeks ago, the aging and abandoned greenhouse was covered in weeds, and had no electricity or other necessities for making it functional. Revitalizing the greenhouse began with help from community volunteer Chuck Reynolds, and soon evolved into a collaborative effort between school and community.

Toledo High School agriculture and metal shop teacher John Ball and his students jumped into action to make the project a reality. Shawn McCullough donated his expertise to restore power as students labored to weed, clean, and build the heated grow table. The table was built by student Hayden Hull with the help of other students and woodshop instructor Guy Buswell.

Reynolds is pleased at the level of enthusiasm from students and teachers despite there not being an existing horticulture program at the school. “This is an opportunity for kids to connect with their community as well as learn more about horticulture and where food comes from. This would have never been possible without the support from Mr. Ball and his students. Despite the great progress, we really need to some help and contributions from anyone willing to help,” said Reynolds.

With spring just around the corner, the kids will quickly see the results of their labor.

“If all goes well these plants are only about 6 weeks out before transplant. It appeared to me that the kids yesterday were kind of in aha. I will be interesting to see their faces when they see the plants pop out of the bed. Not that far away,” said Reynolds.

A list of supplies that are needed right away are:

• More pepper and tomato seeds – preferably popular eating tomatoes such as Early Girl or Better Boy.
• Roughly 600 4” pots for transplanting
• Organic Potting Soil
• Plant Markers – old plastic blinds can be repurposed nicely to make many plant markers.
• Money – even a little can go a long way when it comes to planting.

If you would like to help out with this the new horticulture program in any way, you can contact Deidra Dillon greendeidre@hotmail.com or Chuck Reynolds at reynolds@toledotel.com.

Mike and Greg Ouellette have demolished all of the remaining structures and the clean up is almost done.

The block is shockingly void of downtown architecture beyond Timberland Bank on the corner. The site is being prepared for hopefully something wonderful to emerge from the ashes. There is talk of a Clock Tower Bakery, utilizing the existing elevator shaft that still stands alone on the remaining block.

The revitalization of Toledo Washington continues.

Mark your calendars for our second annual Vision: Clean Up TOLEDO, scheduled for Saturday June 2, 2012.

Holy Toledo! Group Image

And so it begins! February 9th. Two shows. One night only.

HOLY TOLEDO! – An Improv Comedy Show! All proceeds to benefit the Vision:Toledo community fund. Limited seating for each show, so head to Project Showcase’s official site and reserve your tickets now!

*Improv Workshops also available for all ages! Click here for all the details and to reserve your seat! Seating is limited and tickets are going fast!

The new plan is to create a student-centered learning program that integrates current curriculum though a Toledo Elementary School garden, with plans to extend the project for middle school and high school student. A school garden for the Toledo School District is a project spearheaded by Deidre and Stephan Dillon of Toledo, with backgrounds rooted in an appreciation of organic gardening, and nutrition and wellness.  The Dillons are committed to support this project and make a difference for the children of Toledo.  Some of the program goals are:

• provide on-site field trips
• provide hands on learning
• connect whole food with nutrition
• provide mentoring opportunities for older students as well as community members
• connect students with the community
• teach sustainability
• provide motivation for the unmotivated learner through real world connections
• provide endless data for writing, journalism, graphing, charting…
• help students connect with the environment
• promote healthy lifestyles
• and more!

The Dillons have already begun forming partnerships and recruiting volunteers to make this project a reality. If you are interested in being a part of creating the new Toledo Elementary School garden and horticulture program, please email Deidre at greendeidre@hotmail.com.

Phase I (Dream) and Phase II (Create) were posted and viewed earlier this year. The Phase I video was featured at the Movies in the Park night as part of the 2011 Riverfest in Toledo.

Phase III of the trilogy is available here.

The Toledo Lions Club will unveil the new Veterans Wall of Honor on Veterans Day, 11/11/11, at 2p.m. at the Kemp Olson Memorial Park in Toledo, Washington.

Project organizer Bob Schmid said the community is invited to join local veteran groups, dignitaries and other supporters for the groundbreaking. “The neat thing about this is anyone can honor a living or deceased veteran, regardless of branch, by placing his or her name on the Veterans Wall of Honor here in Toledo,” said Schmid.

This Lion’s Club project is constructed with laser-etched bricks from local and historic Chehalis Brick & Tile Company.

The above image and Veterans Wall of Honor design was created by Ty Fragner of TGD Architects, in Chehalis, Washington.

To order a custom brick, print this pdf application and return with payment to the address on the application. For questions, email Bob at dearoldbob@toledotel.com or call 360-864-8335.