November 2023

Happenings

The last month was full of exciting developments at the Olympia Tumwater Foundation! Read on to learn more.

Photo by Jeremy Brenneis

Tumwater Falls Showed Us Its Best Colors

Over the last weeks of October and the first weeks of November we saw incredible fall foliage at Brewery Park! Bright oranges, reds, and purples covered the trails and made Tumwater feel festive and autumnal. These gorgeous leaves made great photography material for our Autumn Photo Contest which conclude last week on November 17th, Read on to learn more about the contest!

Patrons of the Park: the Tumwater Turkey

This month's Patron of the Park is a the park's Tumwater turkey! He is usually spotted walking the trails around Tumwater Falls, but we haven't seen him this week . . .

Left: the interior of the Schmidt House entryway. Right: one of the last produced packs of Olympia Beer! It is housed in the Schmidt House's archives.

Come Tour the Schmidt House!

The next tour of the Schmidt House is scheduled for November 28th at 11am-12:30pm. Join us for a guided tour of one of Tumwater’s most iconic homes, the Schmidt House, built in 1904 for Leopold Schmidt, founder of the Olympia Brewing Company and his family. Your Tour Guide will take you through four levels of the house from the basement (which houses our archives) to the top floor. Find yourself immersed in the rich history Tumwater has to offer. Doors will open at 10:45am. Please note: The first floor is ADA accessible, but the rest of the house requires climbing stairs.

OTF's Newest Board Member

We are excited to welcome Annette Pitts to our board of directors! She has over a decade of experience in Washington's tourism industry, and is currently the CEO of Thurston County's Visitor & Convention Bureau, Experience Olympia and Beyond. Pitts brings her knowledge of tourism, marketing, and brand development to the foundation. She plans to focus her efforts on the Schmidt House's development as a tourist destination, and as as community staple for locals here in Tumwater.

The photo contest's winning 1st place photo titled "Fall Color" by Tami Shaughnessy

The 2023 Autumn Photo Contest

While the autumn leaves were at their peak in Brewery Park, we decided to host a social media photo contest! The contest ran from October 27th to November 15th. Participants had to submit their own photos taken at Tumwater Falls themed around autumn in the park. We received almost 40 entries! Our top three winners were announced via Facebook on Friday, November 17th.

Photo contest winners won an array of OTF merchandise including t-shirts, hoodies, posters, hats, and more! Make sure to watch our Facebook page for our next photo contest announcement!

December's History Talk: Tales from the Crypt

On December 7th

Join us each month for a free hour-long talk on social or natural history, each presented by a recognized expert. All talks will be at noon on a specified Thursday. First come first served until capacity is reached.

The December History Talk is titled "Tales from the Crypt"! The Masonic and Odd Fellows’ cemeteries in Tumwater are more than simply the repository of graves; they are the repository of history and stories, more than can be told in one sitting. Noted local historian Dennis Larsen speaks about a few of the more colorful interments: the Tilley family, spanning three generations from an 1852 wagon train to European royalty; Charles Grainger, Chief Leschi’s hangman; Myron Hawley Ranney, a Congressional Medal of Honor winner; Wittington Johnston Sayre and Ann M. Sayre, vigilantes who hanged a sheriff; and James Biles, the alleged ox killer.

Our Give Local Campaign Showed Support for Brewery Park

The Community Foundation of South Puget Sound hosted a local fundraising campaign titled "Give Local South Puget Sound" which provided a platform for our region's non profit organizations to promote their fundraising needs. We took part in this collaboration, and raised around $4,000 for Brewery Park at Tumwater Falls' maintenance and improvement fund! These contributions will be proportionally matched with funds from the Dawkins Charitable Trust. We cannot thank the CFSPS and our donors enough for their support.

A Picnic to Remember

In August 1970, "old-timers" from the Olympia brewery gathered at Tumwater Falls park to picnic and reminisce about their years producing Oly beer. If you can identify any of these people, contact curator Karen Johnson at karen@olytumfoundation.org.