Presidents Perch

by Cheryl Hart

Friends President

With a heavy heart but a smile on my face, I reflect on the passing of our long-time Board member and volunteer Store Manager, Sharon Miller.

Sharon was among the first group of volunteers who operated Nature’s Overlook, our Visitor Center Store. The Store, run entirely by the Friends, ensures that all proceeds stay within the Tualatin River NWRC to support its activities. Sharon frequently volunteered, always willing to take extra shifts or show up during off-hours for meetings or gatherings that might attract

customers. Volunteering in the store was how I first got to know Sharon.

She joined our Store Committee, the group of Friends volunteers and staff who make decisions about the store's operations. When I became President of the Friends, the first time, and needed someone to take over the secretary position I was vacating, I asked Sharon. She didn’t

hesitate and became a member of the Friends Board. This was about 18 years ago, and Sharon continued as a Store Volunteer throughout. When our previous volunteer Manager moved away, Sharon stepped in as Manager, guiding the store to even greater success.

A couple of years ago, Sharon stepped down from the Board to focus on the Store. She had the

foresight to recruit and train Mike Fiske as her Assistant Manager. Mike has seamlessly taken

over the manager position, thanks to Sharon’s mentorship.

Some of my favorite memories of Sharon are the monthly dinners we shared after Store Committee meetings. We brainstormed, shared family stories, and became fast friends. I will miss her passion for the refuge and her family, and her dry sense of humor. I often found myself laughing on the drive home from our get-togethers because a joke she made would suddenly hit me.

Please join us on Thursday, May 22 at 4:15 P.M. in the Visitor Center for a Celebration of Sharon. We will have light refreshments and time to share our favorite memories of her. If you cannot attend but would like to send a message to be read, please email it to:info@FriendsofTualatinRefuge.org, Subject Line: Sharon Miller, and we will be glad to read your comments at the Celebration.

For those who would like to donate to a memorial for Sharon, Friends are planning to commission a special bench for the Visitor Center that will forever be known as “Sharon’s Bench.” If you would like to donate, you can do so online or in person. Just be sure to note that the donation is for Sharon’s Bench.

I hope to see you all on May 22,

Cheryl

Cheryl

Below: LAM research work party

Focus on Friends

by Bonnie Anderson

Executive Director

I am overflowing with gratitude for the incredible turnout and support at our recent Annual Native Plant Sale! Thanks to your enthusiasm for native flora, we successfully sold $9,284 worth of beautiful plants, resulting in a fantastic $4,600 raised for the Friends and our ongoing mission.

A very special and heartfelt THANK YOU goes out to Lory at Bosky Dell Natives in West Linn. Her decades of unwavering support for the Friends has been invaluable, and we deeply appreciate her partnership.

We also want to celebrate the success of our efforts to enhance our pollinator garden! We raised

a wonderful $675 specifically for native plants to bring even more life and vibrancy to this important space.

On Wednesday, we were thrilled to welcome a dedicated group of 20

employees from Lam Research who generously volunteered their time to clean up our planting beds and get these donated natives in the ground. Their hard work made a significant difference! Our commitment to native plants extends beyond the refuge! We are also delighted to share that we raised $625 to support the native plant garden at Greenway Elementary School. The students

now have a flourishing garden just in time for their Annual Mini Bird Fest – how wonderful!

If you missed out on our Spring native plant sale, we highly recommend a visit to Bosky Dell

Natives – it's truly a sight to behold with so much in bloom right now.

For those who prefer Fall planting, we have some exciting news! We will be hosting our very

first Fall Native Plant Sale in early October. We are thrilled to announce that Sparrowhawk Native Plants has selected us as one of their non-profit collaborators for this event. This sale

will have a different format: you'll be able to browse and select from over 100 native plant species online, all sourced from local native plant nurseries, and then pick up your order at the refuge. Stay tuned for more details!

Looking ahead, we are eager to welcome new neighbors to our community. On June 7th, I will

be hosting 16 families from the soon-to-be-open King City Commons, a new Habitat for

Humanity development. We are so pleased that they have chosen the refuge as a place to connect

with nature and their new community. We will be leading nature walks for the families and have arranged for several organizations, including Clean Water Services and Washington County

Health and Human Services Waste & Recycling Division, to be on hand for community outreach. We warmly welcome this new community to our area.

On a more personal note, as I have taken on the responsibilities of Natures Overlook buying, I find myself spending more and more time in the store and visitors center. This naturally brings to mind our former Store Manager and Board Member, Sharon Miller, who was also a very dear friend. She poured so much of her time, energy, and talent into making the store the welcoming space it is today. I miss her every day. I sincerely hope that you will join other Friends and

Refuge volunteers on the 22nd to share your cherished memories of Sharon.

Thank you once again for your incredible support of the Friends and the Refuge! We couldn't

achieve our mission without you!

See you on the Refuge!

Bonnie

Below: Greenway Garden