Free seeds and takeaways to welcome pollinators will highlight an afternoon of family fun Saturday, April 29 at Winona Grange 271 in Tualatin, 1-4 pm. The goal is to celebrate the role pollinators play in our lives and raise community awareness about pollinator health. Free ice cream sundaes will top off the event.
Adults will gather for two presentations upstairs on plants that attract pollinators and a third on how to use data from the “Oregon Bee Atlas” to improve garden productivity. It is estimated there are more than 500 species of bees in our state.
Children will be treated downstairs to stories about bees with the Winona Grange “Bee Lady” in appropriate costume. Kids will also participate in a 4-H Junior Beekeeping Activity with Alice Phillips from the Oregon State University Extension Service. They can also take seedlings home to plant.
All ages can assemble their own free mason (native, non-stinging) bee houses to take home along with vegetable and pollinator-friendly flower seeds which Winona Grange distributes locally and statewide thanks to donations from Bi-Mart and Wilco. In January and February, Winona Grange volunteers shipped over 100 boxes around the NW region. Various gardening organizations will also be offering resources at the April 29 open house.
Guest experts that day include Adrianna Lovell with Tualatin Soil & Water Conservation District; Brian Allen, Oregon State University Melittologist; and Jack Schorr and Eric Butler, OSU Master Gardeners. (Melittology is the scientific study of bees, www.oregonbeeproject.org).
Winona Grange is located at 8340 SW Seneca in Tualatin. For more details, contact Lily Anderson, Lillyinemeraldcity@gmail.com.
The Winona Grange has had 128 years of uninterrupted community service, including hundreds of events and thousands of hours of educational activities. In addition, the Grange hall is rented by dozens of organizations each year.
