(Saturday photo courtesy West Seattle Bee Garden)
One year in the making, and one week remaining until the celebration of the new West Seattle Bee Garden, at next Sunday’s WS Bee Festival (May 19th). This weekend, writes Lauren Englund – whose dream, reported here in May 2012, started it all – the beehive enclosure is being finished, and you are welcome at a Sunday work party (starting at 10 am). And after that, it’s festival preparations. From Lauren:

For those who may not know, the High Point Neighborhood Association is hosting the West Seattle Bee Festival next Sunday, May 19th, to celebrate the opening of this space. It will include a picnic and parade! Here are some of the details:

Picnic Time: 11 am to 3 pm
Picnic Location: Commons Park at 31st Ave SW and SW Graham St
Parade Start: 11:30 am
Parade Start Location: West Seattle Elementary – 6760 34th Ave SW
Parade Route: North on 31st Ave SW from the WSE parking lot, across Morgan St, past the Bee Garden and into Commons Park. The total route is 0.5 miles.

Want to join the parade? Fantastic! Everyone is welcome. Set-up will ‘open’ at the West Seattle Elementary parking lot at 10:30 am. There will be face painting and an opportunity to make a flower for the parade. Look for a friendly face carrying a helium ballon for answers to questions. The Sound Wave marching band will be leading the way. Fun!

The picnic! Holy smokes some amazing people want to come hang out!

From kite makers, to bee art, to seeds from Vincent van Gogh’s grave … it will be there. The Tallboys will be serenading the festivities, and I’m stoked about sampling food from the awesome vendors who have agreed to come join. Loads of people are excited about celebrating community and education – amazing!

Want to help out? We would love to have you!
Set-up will begin at 9 am, and clean-up will begin at 3 pm. It’s a community effort :-)

We also have some special volunteer slots for anyone who would like to help us communicate the morning of the event – by wearing a sandwich board sign! Our neighbor Deb is spearheading this project. Here are the details; please feel free to contact Deb if interested:

Volunteer opportunity to support the Bee Garden on the day of the parade:
*Wear a “sandwich board”
*Stand on a street corner near the parade
*Wear a simple bee costume (optional)
*Wave and look happy
*Be prepared to answer simple questions like, “where is the parking?”
*Arrive at 9:30 am at Neighborhood House (6400 Sylvan Way) to get your sign and costume.
*Return costume to parade ground (West Seattle Elementary) at 11:00 so you can watch the parade
*Send an email to dvandermar@gmail.com if you have questions or if you want to be a bee with a sign!!

Title of the e-mail: “sandwich board volunteer.”

Find out more about the project at westseattlebeegarden.com – and see more photos on the Bee Garden’s Facebook page.