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SEATTLE – Colville Together, the newest nonprofit organization to earn Washington Main Street Community designation, received the coveted Organizational Excellence Award at Washington Main Street’s Excellence on Main Awards Ceremony on July 20, 2020. The ceremony was held virtually statewide with attendees safely celebrating at socially distanced watch parties.

At the encouragement of Colville City Planner RJ Keetch, a Main Street team began coming together in 2014. This effort was spearheaded by a steering committee of community volunteers, the Chamber of Commerce, Tri County Economic Development District, and the City of Colville. They were focused on learning more about the Main Street Approach™ and eventually joining the Washington Main Street network. As the committee gained momentum, funding became a hot topic. The group knew they wanted to hire an executive director, but the ability to hire staff felt like a chicken-or-the-egg conundrum.

The answer came in the form of formalizing the partnership as an independent but unified nonprofit now known as Colville Together, which then was able to apply for lodging tax dollars and other funding. In 2018, Colville Together hired Rosemary Shaw as its first executive director.

“By starting with a focus on organizational capacity, broad community engagement, and partnerships across different sector, Colville Together has emerged as a standard of quality and cooperation,” said Breanne Durham, Washington Main Street Director.

In the wake of Covid-19, Colville Together has put much of its effort toward Colville’s small business community by galvanizing a community eager to support them. Shortly after the shutdowns, Colville Together organized a crowdfunding campaign that raised $4,500 to help small businesses stay viable. The Main Street organization has also secured grants from Locable and a regional foundation called Innovia, which will allow them to provide ongoing support to Colville businesses through a state-of-the-art e-commerce site.

As Shaw, who still serves as Colville Together Executive Director, puts it, “Working together makes any goal achievable!”

The Excellence on Main Awards, organized by the Washington State Main Street Program, recognize communities, organizations, and individuals who are helping to achieve economic vitality and build sustainable communities through downtown revitalization and preservation. Washington’s Main Street Program is housed in the Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation and administered, under contract, by the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation.

The Organizational Excellence award is designed to recognize excellence in the areas related to building a strong downtown revitalization organization while achieving consensus and cooperation among stakeholder groups

For more information, please contact Breanne Durham, Washington Main Street Director, at the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation at bdurham@preservewa.org or 206-624-9449.

Local Contact: Rosemary Shaw, Colville Together, at 509-680-2841 or info@colvilletogether.org

Colville Together, in partnership with the Colville Chamber of Commerce, Northeast Washington Association of Realtors, the Rotary Club of Colville, is hosting Downtown Clean Up day on June 13^th.   Join us getting downtown ready for the summer activities and visitors. 

Our organizations and volunteers will be working to clean up garbage, wash store front windows, stain the downtown benches, sweeping sidewalks, and other various chores to help the heart of Colville look its best.  If you would like to participate please join us at Heritage Court on Saturday at 9 am, bring your broom and work gloves.  Check in at the booth to fill out our volunteer form, get your work assignment, and be entered to win a “This Place Matters” T-shirt. We will provide refreshments and many of the supplies at the booth as well.  We will be practicing social distancing and we encourage everyone to bring your facemasks.  Please download and fill out the volunteer form to save yourself some time on Saturday.

Colville Together, in partnership with the Colville Chamber of Commerce, has completed our GoFundMe campaign Downtown Businesses Fund.  We are thrilled to see the support of the community and the interest of the Downtown Businesses.

The Community has rallied around this project and we have had dozens of donations from community members, many of them being over $50 and a handful over $200.  We raised over $4,500 to aid the downtown Colville businesses that have been so impacted by the Stay at Home Order and COVID-19.  We had 9 eligible businesses, and each will be getting $500. The businesses may use these funds in any way to help them to continue to be viable during this time.  These businesses are vital to our community and crucial to keeping downtown a dynamic place, where our community and its visitors can live, work and play. 

Yesterday, June 2nd, Muriel Meyer the president of Colville Together personally delivered the checks to a handful of the eligible downtown business owners. The remaining checks were mailed out to the other eligible applicants.

This project really shows how we can make a positive impact TODAY, by working TOGETHER, we can help our downtown survive until TOMORROW. 

Colville Together, “Today, Tomorrow, Together.”   

Colville Together has been pleased to be a part of the design and discussions for the redesign and updating of Heritage Court over the past several years. We have been working with the steering committee established by the City of Colville. The steering committee included Chamber of Commerce, downtown business owners, and other interested community members. It has been a labor of love for all of us.

We didn’t know when the project would be able to start construction, or if it would ever happen because funding the project was difficult for the City, and there were no grants available for this kind of project. Mayor Ralph Lane, came up with a very creative solution, that not only allowed for the updating of Heritage Court, but also solved an issue that many of the downtown buildings along the south end of Main Street.

The water and sewer lines are undersized and do not allow for today’s requirement if any of the building owners want to remodel. So the Mayor proposed adding a new water and sewer line to the alley of Main Street in the large parking lot behind heritage Court. To do this a very large hole will be created in Heritage Court to get the lines deep enough and back to the alley from the existing main lines. After the new water and sewer lines at installed, Heritage Court will be put back together. The design includes new lighting, new seating areas and a great open space for people to gather.

Please see the link above for further information about the schedule for the project, and the affected areas of downtown and Main Street. This project will cause a bit of inconvenience for a short period of time, but the long term result will be worth it.

Colville Together, the Colville Chamber of Commerce, the Kettle Falls Area Chamber of Commerce & Downtown Association and the Statesman Examiner are collaborating for Colville & Kettle Falls Restaurant Bingo! 

 Spend $20 or more at the participating local restaurants to receive a stamp on your bingo card. Bingo cards will be available in the Statesman Newspaper, at colvilletogether.org or at the Colville Chamber of Commerce office. When you have completed 5 tiles in a row  for a bingo or all the squares for black out bingo, return your stamped card to Colville Chamber of Commerce at 986 S. Main Street Suite B or scan and email to info@colvilletogether.org by October 31st to be entered to win the drawing. 

The participating restaurants have all provided gift cards as part of the prizes. Enter to win 1 of 7 prizes for a $100 in gift certificates from participating restaurants for bingo, or 1 prize for $500 in gift certificates for blackout!  Incomplete tiles or cards will not be considered. Must be 18 over to enter.

Join us in supporting our local restaurants by eating in, carrying out and getting delivery from the local restaurants and ensure that they are a part of our community for many years to come!

Print you bingo card at https://www.colvilletogether.org/colville-kettle-falls-restaurant-bingo/

Colville Together has just received formal notice from Washington State Main Street that we have earned our designation as a Main Street Community for 2020.  Colville Together has been a Main Street Affiliate since 2017 and has been working hard the past few years to become a Main Street Community.  According to preservewa.org, “Washington Main Street helps communities revitalize the economy, appearance, and image of their downtown districts using the successful Main Street Approach®, a comprehensive revitalization strategy built around a community’s unique heritage and attributes.”

Colville Together is so excited as this designation provides opportunities that were not available to us as an Affiliate.  We are now going to be able to keep monies working locally that would otherwise go directly to the state.  The Main Street Tax Credit Incentive Program allows local businesses to take advantage of a 75% tax credit for B&O Taxes.  For example, if a local business donates $1,000 to Colville Together, they will receive a $750 tax credit for the following year.   The donations to Colville Together will be used for our programs which include façade grants, a building improvement matching grant program and downtown murals.  These programs are focused on improving the look of downtown Colville, which will encourage visitors, as well as our community, to spend time shopping and enjoying downtown.

Colville Together would not be possible without the help of our partners; the City of Colville, Colville Chamber of Commerce, and Tri County Economic Development District. Thank you for your time, financial support and encouragement over the past few years. 

The Colville Chamber of Commerce, the Parks & Recreation Department, and Colville Together are collaborating again this year to decorate the downtown Christmas Tree. 

The tree has been donated by Hancock Forest Management, from land that they manage.  It is a natural tree from the forest surrounding Colville.  The tree is being cut down and delivered to Astor Street by Trent Lang of Vaagen Brothers Lumber and other Vaagen Brothers employees. He has provided his services and time for numerous years to put up our Christmas Tree.

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For the second year in a row, Josh Anderson of Vaagen Brothers Lumber, has donated over 400 cut rounds for the local school kids to decorate.  Over 15 teachers and their classes are participating this year to help decorate the tree.  The Chamber of Commerce has also donated new ornaments and additional lights to create a festive tree. 

The Christmas Tree was lit November 29^th in Astor Court starting at 5pm.  Chamber of Commerce sponsored the event and has organized live music and warm beverages.   Panorama 4H 4 Paws will be selling cookies for a fund raiser.  Santa arrived at 6pm to light the tree and was available for pictures at Saundra’s.

It was great to see you all Downtown!  Merry Christmas!

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Small Business Saturday 2019 is coming up November 30^th!  For the third year, Colville “Neighborhood Champions,” are joining forces with Colville Together to host an event encouraging our community to shop local!

We will be having several giveaways, a scavenger hunt, and a grand prize drawing (a collection of prizes donated by participating businesses)!  Stop by Heritage Court to collect your Small Business Saturday shopping bags and your “passport”.  Then visit the participating businesses to collect your stamps at the local area businesses. A full passport will enter you to win the grand prize.   

The scavenger hunt will be via Facebook.  Find a This Place Matters – Colville T-shirt at one of the participating businesses, take a pic and post to Facebook with the #heartColville. Five random entries will be selected to win a  Colville T-shirt

While your downtown, enjoy a horse and buggy ride curtsy of the Chamber of Commerce and Jeff Upton from Hoof & Boots.

Join us for Small Business Saturday 2019 and support our Colville local businesses.

Flower Dancing in the Wind, a gorgeous sculpture by local artist, Jerry McKellar, will be officially unveiled Friday June 28, 2019 at noon at the southwest corner of Yep Kanum Park.  The sculpture was purchased by the Vinson Fund earlier this year upon approval by City Council. 

Colville Together has been coordinating the installation with the City of Colville, the City Parks and Recreation Department, Jerry McKellar, the City Streets Department, as well as local volunteers.  Together we decided on a location for the sculpture, and site preparations began. We temporarily relocated the plantings and the park sign and disassembled the existing retaining wall to get the location ready for the sculpture.  Once the site was ready, Jerry McKellar and Jeff Long at the City Street Department placed Flower Dancing in the Wind.  The volunteers then came back to rebuild the retaining wall and replaced the plantings.  Jillian Marshall, City Parks and Recreation Director, and her staff helped with much of the heavy lifting throughout the process. This project was only possible because of the generosity and enthusiasm of our community.

A Special Thank You to all the volunteers and local businesses that donated time and materials:

City of Colville

Colville Chamber of Commerce

Colville Together

WSU Extension Master Gardeners

Vinson Fund

Colville Tree Board

Rotary Club of Colville

Vaagen Brothers Lumber

Vaagen Timbers

Richart Corporation

Jerry McKellar

Craig and Sarah Newman

Annie Lawson

Dean Fisher

It is a lovely time of year in Colville.  The community comes together and makes the Holidays special.  Downtown becomes a festive, fun, and lively place to be.  Deocations are hung, the tree goes up, and music fills Main Street. 

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Colville Together had the oppurtiunity to help with the festivities this year.  We reached out to the the local schools for help decorating the Downtown Christmas tree.  Fourteen classrooms participated and over 400 handmade ornaments were made for the tree.  The materials for the ornaments – log rounds, tounge depressors, and pine cones – were donated.  Josh Anderson and Phil Bradeen from Vaagen Timbers cut the birch trees, sawed the rounds and drilled the holes.  Missy Stalp, Providence Mt. Carmel, donated the tounge depressors, which the students transformed into snowflakes and stickmen.  The pine cones, collected by two woodland faires, were decorated with glitter, turned into raindeer, and painted. 

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As it has for many years, the Parks & Rec Department, hung the lights (circling the tree this year thanks to a donation from the Colville Chamber of Commerce) and red bows, then we all went to work hanging the beatiful ornaments that the children made.  It was a long day, but full of fun and thankfully sunshine.  Jill Marshall and the entire Parks & Recreation crew did a fabulous job.  

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The decorated tree was lit at the Chamber of Commerce’s anually Tree Lighting Event.  It was  wonderful. 

Thank you Colville!  Merry Christmas!