Welcome to the official Boston Harbor Association (BHA) home page!
BHA is a non-profit entity with a board of nine volunteers elected annually that organizes our July 3rd Fireworks Show, the September potluck, the neighborhood garage sale, the annual meeting and neighborhood projects as needed. During 2015 the Boston Harbor sign at shipwreck corner was replaced and several “historic signs” were erected. BHA is also our advocate voice to protect our peaceful rural lifestyle rich in local history, natural history and wildlife that we value. The Boston Harbor Association actively contributes to making our neighborhood a vibrant place to call home. BHA membership is the biggest “bang for your buck” available anywhere!
Guest speakers included Commissioner Carolina Mejia, Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders, Fire Chief Brian VanCamp, Public Works Director Karen Weiss, and Water Resources Engineer Joe Plahuta.
Cancellation of July 3 Fireworks show announced. An alternate Independence Day celebration is under consideration. The July 3 bike parade is still on!
One continuing and two new board members were elected: Jackie Ashley will serve a second term; Ed Steinweg and Mindy Atkinson are new to the board – welcome!
See the Documents page for the minutes and slides from the annual meeting, and other pertinent documents, including the by-laws and articles of incorporation, monthly Board meeting minutes, and the treasurer’s reports for the past several years.
The Association and Marina teamed up to present Harbor Stories at the Marina on 11/23. At least 80 neighbors attended! We heard funny, surprising, and heartwarming stories from neighbors whose families lived in Boston Harbor full-time as early as 1914. The storytellers were so good you’d think they’d been rehearsing together for weeks! See Brooklyn Hooper’s fabulous short video on our Facebook page. We’ll let you know when and where the full program video is posted.
This was so much fun we’re going to do it again with some other old-time families. Stay tuned!
We had a good response to our survey, with 102 participants answering 14 questions about community activities. Thank you to all who took the time to participate!
See the key takeaways in the October newsletter and the full results here.
Upcoming events are on the flip side of the postcard. If you didn’t receive one and want these quarterly postcards, please email us.
The Annual Potluck was held on September 21st. About 40 neighbors attended and watched the antics of “chefs” Scott Provost and John Payne as they flipped burgers, dogs, and onions on the grill (and sometimes on each other). Association President Larissa James was caught on video dancing to “I Like to Move It” (The Real) with a tiny tot who did his best to keep up with her smooth moves. Mindy Atkinson and Nancy Brown manned the membership table, bringing in many renewed and new memberships as well as selling tickets to passersby who just wanted one of John and Scott’s hamburgers. Thanks to everyone for bringing good food and spending time together, strengthening our community in the Harbor.
As the name implies, National Night Out is held nationally, always on the first Tuesday in August and has been since 1984.
The event is meant to increase awareness about police programs in communities, such as drug prevention and neighborhood watch.
The events are typically organized by block watches, nonprofit organizations, companies, and police departments. These events can be as simple as backyard cookouts or as complex as full-blown festivals that includes live music, food, and entertainment.
Spearheaded by Board Members Jackie Ashley and Larissa James, it was held for the first time this year in Boston Harbor and while low key was very successful. August 6th was a beautiful evening and many neighbors congregated at the table set up at the corner of Boston Harbor Rd and 73rd Ave from 6 pm – 8 pm to enjoy the homemade cookies and converse with Board members, their neighbors, and members of the South Bay fire department who parked their truck close by and spoke with folks about safety issues.
Be thinking about how you would like to celebrate it next year!
Held on Saturday and Sunday August 10th and 11th it was also a resounding success. 19 households signed up in advance and were on the map provided by the Board with much help from Brooklyn Hooper. Brooklyn worked at the Marina when she was younger and now organizes the Marina craft fairs. And as you can see from the quality of the map, she is a competent graphics designer. Several homes not on the map piggy backed on the almost incessant traffic generated for the sale and held yard sales too, so there were far more homes than the 19 that were on the map.
General consensus was that there was a lot of buying and selling of a wide variety of items. It was a great way for Boston Harbor home owners to pare down the clutter and for potential buyers to find that special item.
Connect with us on Social Media! We have active accounts on both Facebook and Next Door, connecting all of our neighbors and active members with current events or anything happening in our community.
BHA is a WA non-profit organization and we strive for community connectivity, engaging activities and neighborhood maintenance for our public access areas. This is all possible due to our active memberships and donations from the community. Your money goes a long way and we appreciate every dollar that comes through. Please consider donating or becoming a member of the BHA to help us continue the wonderful work that we’ve been able to accomplish.
While we encourage everyone in the Boston Harbor community to become members ($25/year for the entire household) anyone can join! If you are interested, please select the link below, or if you have any questions Contact Us anytime for a prompt response.
The Documents Page will have everything listed for you to review and will provide you with answers to most of your questions. This page will also give you a view of what the BHA Board hopes to accomplish for the year and what our goals are for the long-term future.
We are excited to share with everyone our Event Calendar. This is a public Google Calendar that can be accessed either here, or through the link below:
https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0?cid=YmhhLndhLmJvYXJkQGdtYWlsLmNvbQ
The July 3rd Fireworks
Our largest event of the year is the fireworks show held at the Boston Harbor Marina. We are proud to host this event and will continue to do so for as long as possible. Of course, the only way we are able to pull it off is due to our amazing members of the community and the sponsorship of local businesses. Your generosity is the backbone of our community and we are so grateful for each and every one of you. Your annual dues not only go to this event but help us with everything we do to make this community better. Thank you.
