By Arla Holzschuh

Executive Director, Sumner Downtown Association

Last month, in our first column in the Sumner and Bonney Lake Courier-Herald, we shared with you what our organization, the Sumner Downtown Association is, who are we, what we do, why we do it, where are we and when are we there?

Over the past few weeks I have continually heard reference to my working for the city and why don’t we – the SDA – as a part of the city, fix one thing or another?

Without the city, the SDA would not be able to accomplish its mission and the city’s support in our partnership is imperative to the success of not only this association, but downtown and the community itself.

We are not, however, a part of the city of Sumner structure.

It is important that the community understands what the answers are to the five basic questions that help tell our story.

Who are we? We are a private, nonprofit Washington state corporation registered with the Department of the Treasury as a 501(c)(6)corporation with a 501(c)(3) application pending. We have a partnership with the city to help facilitate our activities and they provide office space and many other in-kind services.

What do we do? Our mission is: promote the preservation and revitalization of our downtown as the heart of the Sumner community. We operate with the National Trust’s Main Street Center program, the most successful revitalization program in the country. The Main Street 4-point Approach reinforces the common goal of preservation. It provides education to the public, improves downtown’s public image and the economic feasibility of preservation.

Why do we do it? The SDA board of directors and the staff all recognize that Sumner’s greatest asset is its sense of hometown community. They are all committed to strengthening the sense of pride in Downtown through new social and cultural activities, and the preservation of its architecture and human history by expanding historical awareness.

Depiction of the history of the community, in murals, on walls of downtown buildings and the preservation of its buildings, with 85 percent of downtown’s buildings being built before World War II, provides a sense of identity for Sumner’s children.

Where are we? Our official office is at 906 Kincaid Ave. and our phone number is 253-720-9846. Our e-mail address is sda@sumnerdowntown.com.

When are we there? Beginning this week our office hours have changed on Tuesday and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Preservation and revitalization is started with educating the community about its history. Sumner’s history is in more than just its historic buildings, it’s the history of the community from the first settlers until today. The story of the Woolery, Kincaid, and Ryan families along with the agricultural history of hop kilns, daffodil and rhubarb fields and timber harvest and sawmills present a strong background for the Sumner we all know and love.

It is not our own “Mayberry” by accident. It was created and worked at until it became the community that The Seattle Times said “so completely embodies the nostalgic ideals of small-town America.”

Please mark your calendar and join us from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. downtown for Sumner’s first Rhubarb Days event. With our strong history of the growing of rhubarb and the recognition of being the Rhubarb Pie Capital, the day will be filled with rhubarb activities and games for kids and adults. A cook-off for rhubarb recipes from pie, to preserves and chutney along with rhubarb scavenger hunts, pie walks and a pie eating contest will keep everyone in a festive mood while we all learn more about the crop that’s making Sumner famous.

Please don’t forget to come on into Sumner this Saturday for a number of activities. The community garage sale is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. with the deadline for registration for selling at noon on Friday.

From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. it’s the Merchants Sidewalk Sale and from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Hansen Place, there will be community input for the proposed city’s “Gathering Place,” a tour of the site, design renditions and a Community Meeting.

We hope to see all of you on Saturday.