Here’s the latest news…

Greetings, Friends of the Olga Store Building! 

We hope you have all settled into Fall, and that you are looking forward to the upcoming holiday season. 

We have been working behind the scenes to reassess our financial situation and prepare for our upcoming annual meeting, which is open to the public. Will you join us? We are still glowing in the aftermath of opening our doors this year, and we want to share our excitement with you in hopes that you will continue to invest your hearts in this project. 

We are also excited to enter our third phase of life as a Board: Debt Restructuring and Fundraising. We are seeking new Board members who are excited to add their energy to our work. If you or someone you know is interested in this position, please reach out and join us at our upcoming meeting.

The meeting will take place on Tuesday evening, December 10th, at 5:30pm. There will be a Raffle of some very exclusive Friends of the Olga Store Building swag and some goodies from the Orcas Co-Op.
Use this LINK to join the call and invite a friend!

So here we are. 

Fall has arrived and our building’s heart and shelves are so full! The Orcas Food Co-Op and the USPS have settled into a routine of serving our community. We are overjoyed to see visitors and locals using the space in the Olga Store Building on a daily basis. It has been five long years of waiting for this project to be completed. With the exception of the cottage, the renovation of the Olga Store Building is finished and it has been wonderful this summer to sit back and enjoy the final product. 

With the arrival of fall we are entering the next phase of work for the Friends of the Olga Store Building: debt restructuring and fundraising. It sounds MUCH less exciting than construction and opening doors, but it is an essential step in making the next ten years of this project sustainable. The completion of this renovation left our little non-profit, volunteer association with over $600K in loans that need to be repaid. This is a project that exceeded its original budget by at least this amount, due to the complicated nature of renovating a building that is nearly 100 years old. We are excited to be done with construction so that we can turn our attention to finances exclusively.

We have also restructured our board and are seeking new members from the community. Our fearless leader, Gay Pareske, who has piloted this project from its conception, has decided to step down now that our doors are open. Liz Rodriguez, another wonderful board member who has been with us through many trials, has also decided to make room for some fresh faces and energy. We have elected Bizzy Riley as our Board President, and along with  Treasurer Debbie Durand, Secretary Selby Lighthill and members Colleen Stewart and Oshen Schiweck we are very excited to hear from members of the community who might be interested in joining our work.

Please consider joining us at our Annual Meeting via Zoom!!

This meeting is open to the public, and we hope you all join us to review our budget and celebrate the success of the past year.

Tuesday November 12th at 6:30pm

Link to Follow

USPS Hours M-F 7:45-11:30am, 12-2:15pm

Orcas Food Co-Op Hours 10-4 Daily

The Olga Store Newsletter – August 2024

Have you visited the Olga Store Building yet?

WOW! So many people have been to our Olga Store since it’s opened! Whether they are picking up mail, grocery shopping or enjoying lattes and ice cream. Everyone seems to love it!

The finishing touches are ongoing! We just added a beautiful hand-crafted bench near the Co-op Store area. This beautiful bench was gifted to us by Jerry and Diane Kasparnek, who commissioned Olga’s very own Steve Emmes to build it. Come have a seat!

A BIG THANK YOU TO JERRY AND DIANE!!! AND TO STEVE EMMES!!!

Our Book Drop is Back for library returns!

We continue to add photos to the wall in the community area.

Our contractors are working on the little cabin and a walkway behind the building. Slowly but surely!

We, on the board, are so proud and grateful to have had the honor of working on this project from the beginning. It’s so wonderful to see our community members and visitors enjoying this special place!

Help us keep The Olga Store open!

None of this would have happened without the donations and volunteered hours from so many generous people who believed in this project!

As you probably know, the Friends of the Olga Store Building (FOSB) is a non-profit organization. Some of the donations came to us as loans, with very generous terms. However, we now must pay back these community members.

We desperately need cash donations now! The rent we collect from tenants are enough to sustain operation, but not enough to cover these debts. We are happy to discuss the situation if more detail with you.

We have a team of board members working on a fund-raising event and we continue to look for grants and other financing options, but the fact remains we need donations now to keep our beloved store open! Thank you so much for your support.

OUR POST OFFICE IS BACK HOME!

It’s been a while (2019!) since the Olga Post Office lost its lease and moved to Eastsound. Since that time, the community has rallied around the Friends of the Olga Store Building (FOSB) as we went to work to buy and refurbish the building together. It stands again a beautiful building bustling with activity at the Orcas Food Coop, community corridor, an office space and…drum roll please…as of Wednesday July 17, 2024: The Olga Post Office!

USPS at The Olga Store hours are:
Monday-Friday 7:45am – 11:30am
                          &12:00pm – 2:15pm
Saturday, Sunday, Postal Holiday – CLOSED
Collection Time: 2:15pm

All Olga mail is now in Olga! No need to go to Eastsound to check your PO Box or to buy stamps, ship packages, etc. If you had a PO Box before, you still have the same PO Box number now. If you do not have your new key, just stop in during their business hours and they
will have it for you. You can check you PO Box anytime!
Their direct phone number is 360-376-4236

Our community, both near and far, came together and made this happen! Congratulations to all!

Newsletter – June 2024

What’s Happening Now at the Olga Store Building?

The Board members of the Friends of the Olga Store Building have had a chance to relax for a few minutes now that the building is complete, rents are coming in, and the Food Coop is open. However, we have not just been just sitting around eating ice cream at the Coop Café!

First, we want to congratulate Learner Limbach and everyone from the Orcas Food Coop for making the Olga Co-op a reality!

Special thanks to Libi Geddes, the Manager of the Olga location. She and her team have put in long hours getting everything ready to open and become the greatest little store on the island…maybe in the State! They have already been able to expand their hours to be open until 4p.m.!

Cafe
The "Co-op Cafe" espresso drinks are still receiving glowing reviews! The Cafe features organic coffee from Dorothea Coffee and a menu that includes drinks and ingredient options for any taste/dietary preference! And yes, they have tea! The Straus soft serve ice cream is divine, and comes in vanilla and chocolate! If you can’t decide, have a swirl of both flavors..YUM!

Groceries
The store is stocked with over 500 popular grocery items, including dairy, produce, frozen items, dry/packaged goods, juice/soda/kombucha, beer & wine, household supplies, merchandise and more! Salads and other items from the co-op deli will be made fresh most mornings and delivered to the Olga Store. Fresh sandwiches and smoothies will be available Wednesday - Sunday.

The Food Co-op continues to be supportive partner with the Friends of the Olga Store Building. All Register Roundups at the store will go directly to FOSB, as well as half of the proceeds from all branded Olga Store merchandise sales.
Read more about membership or join online.
  
Last but certainly not least, we have not forgotten about getting our POST OFFICE back in Olga!

As we have stated in previous newsletters, the Post Office has been faced with some unexpected problems with their computer system, that has stopped them from moving back to Olga. Dave Klaus, our Post Master, has been working many, many extra hours with the Post Office IT team to fix the issues. He keeps us informed on the progress (and lack of progress) on a regular basis.
Also, Gay Paresky, FOSB Board President, has been in contact with the managers at the Post Office who were on the original planning committee to design and oversee the construction work for their new space in Olga. They have been supportive of this project from the beginning (they even told us we built them the most beautiful Post Office in the Country!). While it is not part of their job, they are also helping get the attention and expertise needed to resolve these issues as soon as possible. 

WE WILL POST UPDATES AS SOON AS WE KNOW ANYTHING NEW!

Newsletter May 6, 2024—

We have some great news and some not so great news.

Let’s get the not so great news out of the way first… The Post Office really will be open for business soon, but we don’t have the exact opening date. We do know that our Post Office friends are working as fast as possible to get everything up and running. They want to complete the return to Olga as much as we do! It’s a rather complicated process to get everything moved back, but one thing in certain…we really will get our Post Office back.

Now on to great news!

The Orcas Food Coop has opened their Olga Store location!

Café —The cafe is open 9-3 daily (for now) and features organic coffee from Dorothea Coffee and a menu that includes a variety of drinks! The espresso drinks have gotten glowing reviews so far.

Groceries —The store is stocked with over 500 popular grocery items, including dairy, produce, frozen items,dry/packaged goods, juice, soda, kombucha, beer, wine, household supplies, merchandise and more! Deli items, including salads, will be made fresh most mornings and delivered to the Olga Store. Fresh sandwiches and smoothies will be available Wednesday-Sunday. 

Soft Serve —The Co-op cafe will host the first Straus Family Creamery soft serve ice cream machine in the state of Washington!

Come Show the Store Love!

It has been an expensive and long process, and now that the store is open we hope the community will come out and show support by shopping there, especially if you live on the east side! If they are busy enough, they would love to extend the operating hours. They have assembled a fabulous team to run the Olga Store and look forward to serving the community with this east side hub!

The Food Co-op continues to be supportive partner with the Friends of the Olga Store Building. All Register Roundups at the store will go directly to FOSB, as well as half of the proceeds from all branded Olga Store merchandise sales!

Below is some information about joining the Co-op and about member-owner benefits. (Membership includes both locations- Eastsound and Olga.)

Co-op/Olga Store Swag Promotion— Receive a $10 coupon to spend on Olga Store swag if you join the co-op with a lifetime membership.

Member-Owner Benefits— Become part owner, support your community and get some great economic benefits:

• 10% Off Monthly Owner Coupon

• Earn 1% Back with re+coop

• Case discounts with provisions co-op wholesale

• 5% Off Bulk Department Purchases Every Day

• Participate In Co-op Governance

• Become A Hands-On-Owner

Read more about membership or join online at https://orcasfood.coop/membership/

The Work Continues…

And so does our need for donations. We’re so grateful for everyone’s support for the Friends of the Olga Store Building (FOSB). FOSB is the 501c3 non-profit owner of the property. The work of overall property renovations continues and FOSB is still in need of more financial support to finish paying for building and property restoration loans. Please continue to donate to support owning this building together as a community asset.

You can donate on the FOSB website or at The Olga Store itself!

We are happy to arrange a meeting with you to discuss our financial situation in more detail.

You can also mail a check to Friends of the Olga Store Building (FOSB), PO Box 21, Olga WA 98279.

Please contact us by email at Friends@TheOlgaStore.org.

We need your historic photos and stories of The Olga Store by April 5th! Please email them to us at friends@theolgastore.org so we can feature them on our History Board that will be in the community corridor.

Annual board meeting recap:

A big thank you to everyone who attended our public board meeting (via Zoom). It was fantastic to see and hear from so many of our Olga community members.
Here’s a synopsis of what was discussed...

FOSB Financial report: We presented the current financial information for the Friends of the Olga Store Building (FOSB). FOSB is still in need of donations and will be for some time yet. We have an immediate need for $35,000. This is needed to pay the final installment to
our contractors and to finish the little cabin. Additional donations are needed to reduce our debt to the community members who generously loaned FOSB money at little or no interest to purchase the building and keep this entire project moving forward.

Orcas Food Co-op: Libi Geddes reported on the progress they are making with their store. They are striving for an opening in April, maybe Earth Day!

The Post Office: Dave Klaus, Post Master said they are also very close to opening. They have been training the employee for our Olga location. They are busy installing their computer systems and finalizing the plan to distribute the new keys for Post Office boxes, as well as moving everything else they need to reopen our fully functional Olga Post Office!!! Their target date is April 1st. We will be posting the actual opening date on our website and social media sites, as soon as it’s official.

New FOSB Board members: There will be elections for 2025 board members, in November, 2024. FOSB needs for people with a passion for our beautiful Olga Store Building and experience in:

 property management,
 fund raising,
 Grant writing
 bookkeeping
 Financial planning and management
 non-profit taxes, reports and licensing

Thank you again, to all the meeting attendees and to the entire Olga community for saving a piece of history and bringing the post office back to Olga.

March 3, 2024— Preserving our past, opening in the near future

The Olga Store Building just keeps getting better!
The original signs for the Olga Store and the Olga Post Office were spruced up and rehung outside the store in their former spots of glory just a few weeks ago, on January 23.
If you haven’t already, please, come by and take a look.

The Post Office and Food Coop will soon be open for business in the beautiful Olga Store Building. Meanwhile, we are working on some additional details in the community area and have assembled a team of community members and volunteers to design the history and memories wall. We are working toward creating a space that will be informative, inclusive and full of interesting information about the store, the hamlet, and the island beyond.

The Friends of the Olga Store Annual Meeting will be held on Tuesday March 19th at 5:30 PM. All are welcome. We are look forward to seeing you all on zoom, updating you on the progress we have made in the last year, including our financial outlook and future planning, and answering any questions you may have.

The Post Office and the Food Co-op are working hard to get their spaces ready to open. The good news is that we have turned their spaces over to them and they are paying rent! Both tenants and the FOSB are anxious to open just as soon as possible.

While the Post Office and Food Co-op are busy with their spaces, we are finishing up the conference room and community area. The conference room will eventually be available to the community, but temporarily, it will be used by our third tenant while the little cottage is being refurbished. The Community Area is looking fantastic! The walls are painted, the live-edge counters have been sealed, the lights have been hung. Stools and chairs are waiting for their first guests! This area will be available to the community when the Food Co-op opens.

And Ethel, our beloved wood stove, has been cleaned, polished and repainted! While she will no longer be burning wood, she will help keep us warm by collecting donations.

And speaking of donations… We have been receiving many donations and are truly grateful!
We are anxious to begin repaying the loans that several neighbors provided us at incredibly low rates, and are working on long-term budgets to reduce the amount of donations need to operate in future years.

Your help in the past, got us this far, now we need some additional help to finish! We have posted all budget info on our website.

Happy New Year— 2024—our opening year!

Oct 31, 2023—We are nearing the end of October and we nearing the opening of The Olga Store!

A little more work is needed, but we are very close to being ready for the USPS. Our FOSB President Gay Paresky, met with USPS representatives from the USPS last week and they were very impressed with their new space. They want to open on December 1st!  (Yes, that is December 1st of this year— 2023!

The Orcas Food Co-op is busy getting their space ready to open in early 2024!

Our community has been so patient and supportive.  Soon we will have our beloved Store back for all to enjoy!

This also means we will be collecting rent from the USPS! And soon from the Orcas Coop!  Additional income will start coming in as soon as the little cabin is ready to rent.
BUT, we still need donations to keep the finishing touches happening, to build maintenance reserves, to repay the generous loans we received. Please help us pay off our debts so we can reach a sustainable place.

We thank you and can't wait to welcome you into The Olga Store again soon!

October is bringing us cooler temperatures, but the Olga Store is heating up! 
Wood floors are being laid and the ceiling in the community area is being installed.
The gas pump base is prepared!
The railing for the front porch will be installed any day now. The Orcas Food Co-op is busy getting their area ready for business. 
The Post Office is anxious to get back to Olga!
Everyone working on this project is looking forward to welcoming you into our beautiful Olga Store Building.

We also have received many generous donations from our wonderful community!  Your donations are making this all possible. Of course, we still need additional support. We are still offering thank you gifts for each $50 or more donation. Fundraising is an ongoing need as we put on the finishing touches and start building maintenance fund, as well as start repaying loans.
 
Continue to check our website, Facebook and Instagram for updates.  We are still working toward an end of October soft opening!

Help us push toward our Grand Opening this fall!

This is what has been completed since this project began in 2018!:

• 2019 Building purchased

• 2019 Initial plans approved

• 2019 USPS 20-year lease signed

• 2019 Orcas Food Coop agreed to lease space

• 2019 Demolition needed for renovation started

• 2020-2022 COVID

• 2023 Full steam ahead!

• Finished demolition 

• Permits approved 

• Inspections passed

• New subfloor 

• Studs for walls

• New siding

• Plumbing

• Electrical  

• HVAC

• Insulation

• Siding painted (Thanks to all the wonderful volunteers!)

• New porches (railings will be finished by end of August.)

• Dry wall (August)

• Floors (August/September)

• Sheetrock started August 16.

• Flooring installation will begin by the end of August. 

We want to open our doors by late October! (BUT, we’re not there yet)

Yes, we still need donations to cross the finish line. 

Please bear in mind that our expenses took a huge hit from COVID and other related issues(delayed permits etc.).  The almost 3-year delay meant that donations were used to cover operating costs, including electricity, property taxes, insurance etc., before any rental income was even received. The price of lumber and other supplies went up significantly.  

We are prevailing, and still need your help! 

Costs we still need to cover:

• New siding (labor)* $ 16,000

• Plumbing $ 25,000

• Electrical $ 19,000 

• HVAC $ 35,000

• Insulation $ 9,000

• Porches $ 15,000

• Dry Wall $ 14,000

• Interior Finishing $ 15,000

• Flooring $ 20,000

• Concrete $ 13,000

• Dump fees $  7,000

• Other Carpentry $ 9,000 

• Windows $  2,000

• Trim Work $ 15,000

• Misc. Labor $   6,000

• Other $   5,000

TOTAL $225,000

*Siding was donated

We need at least $225,000 to pay for the rest of the work.  Ideally, we would raise $250,000 to speed up repayment of loans and build up an endowment for maintenance, expenses and future projects.  Throughout this project, we have continued to apply for grants, but our primary support continues to be our fantastic Olga Store community near and far!   

We have thank you gifts for each $50 (or more) donation – choice of t-shirt or hat. After you’ve donated, send an email with your address, item choice and size to friends@theolgastore.org and we will mail or deliver your Olga store swag! THANK YOU!

June 28, 2023- Thank you! Our two-day paint party was a huge success. Each day, over 20 volunteers came out to paint the store. The weather was beautiful and we completed the siding and trim paint. Thanks to Bower Bird Builders for directing volunteers and to Orcas Food Co-op for providing lunch!

May 18th 2023—THANK YOU! With your help, we came in second place in BOTH challenges for Orcas Island Community Foundation’s GiveOrcas.org campaign. We received two bonuses and raised a total of $17,225 for construction costs!

May 7th, 2023- Thank you for coming out to our Open House! We had over 200 folks walk through the door to check out the refreshed Olga Store.

Newsletter #16 — April 2023—Open House Coming Up!

The Olga Store Building is looking better and better!…

* The new foundation is complete and approved by the County!

* The insulation is in and approved by the County!

* Subflooring is almost complete!

* Installing drywall is going to start very soon.

* Plumbing and heating is still expected to complete in May.

* Electrical is still expected to be completed in June, along with Inspections.

Visit Olga and see what’s happening at the Store! Seeing is believing!

We are always happy to have people stop by to see the progress, however,we want to remind everyone that this is a construction zone and the contractors are busy. To keep everyone safe, please admire from the outside.

But we can’t wait any longer for you to see the progress inside of the building! We are having an open house on Sunday, May 7, 2023, 1pm – 4pm.

This will also be opportunity for you to support us through the Orcas Island Community Foundation Spring Give. All donations received during the open house will go towards our OICF fundraiser.

We are happy to answer any questions concerning the budget and building progress or to meet with you personally to discuss our progress and fundraising needs. Happy Spring!

Newsletter # 15 —March2023— Progress is continuing at the Olga Store Building

• The additional exterior plywood required by the County for shear strength is completed and has passed inspection.

• The new siding is almost finished.

• The new footings have been poured.

• The interior floors, walls, insulation will be next!

• Plumbing and heating is expected to complete in May.

• Electrical work is expected to be completed in June, along with Inspections.
  

Seeing is believing! Feel free to visit Olga Hamlet and see what’s happening at the Store for yourself!

It’s so exciting to see how far we have come, so check it out! And please keep donating.

We, the FOSB board, are continuing efforts for donations and to secure grants and other sources of funding. We are also planning fund raising events. Keep on the lookout for more information!

Donations can be made using the Donate link on our website or by mailing a check to Friends of the Olga Store Building (FOSB), PO Box 21, Olga WA 98279.

We are happy to answer any questions concerning the budget and building progress or to meet with you personally to discuss our progress and fundraising needs.

Please contact us by email at Friends@TheOlgaStore.org.

Newsletter #14 — HAPPY NEW YEAR!

We at the Friends of the Olga Store Building (FOSB) are looking forward to 2023 bringing us great things!

But first, a short review of what we’ve been through to get here… COVID, need we say more! The pandemic caused other problems that no one could have predicted. It caused businesses to be shut down, activities to be cancelled and major delays on building projects. Many of these impacts continue today, 3 years later.

In spite of these hurdles, we never lost our determination to bring the Olga Store back to life! During these past three years, we:
* secured long-term leases from the Post Office and Orcas Food Co-op.
* raised enough money to get complete design drawings and submit permit applications
* weathered delays caused by the backlog of permit applications
* received County approval
* completed many unexpected additional repairs last summer, thanks to our
patient and skilled contractors
* redesigned the west portion of the building, due to permitting concerns
* excavated for a new foundation

Now we can see the light at the end of this very long tunnel!
Additional plywood covering on the outside of the building (required by the County for sheer strength) is almost complete. We are still waiting on some items from the County, but we just passed an inspection on the foundation. And the best news yet… we expect to have the floors and interior walls finished by the end of March! Then our contractors can put all their efforts into finishing the Post Office and preparing for occupancy.

Our hope is to have the Olga Post Office open this summer!

Then we will complete the space for the Co-op and the Community area.

Thank you for standing with us. 2023 is our year!


Financial Update
In June 2022 we announced Phase III fundraising for the necessary $370,000.00 construction budget.

Supply chain problems, permit delays, and regional inflation exceed our limited budget, and we enter 2023 with a $250,000 shortfall.

We are continuing efforts to secure grants and other funding, but we really need each and every one of you in our Olga Store Community to continue your generous support.

Read more about our progress this summer in The Island Sounder, June 2022.
Olga Store Captures Orcas Authenticity
The Olga Store Phase III: Heading to the Finish Line

More detailed construction budget details are available by clicking HERE.

We are happy to answer any questions concerning the budget and building progress or to meet with you personally to discuss our progress and fundraising needs. Please contact us by email at Friends@TheOlgaStore.org.

Newsletter #13 — July 2022

Hello Friends!

Summer has finally arrived with beautiful sunny days and pleasant temperatures. Our renovations are moving forward as long as the donations keep rolling in. Thank you for your generosity and patience amidst our Phase III fundraiser that will bring us to opening our doors!

Here is what we’ve been up to this month…

Gas pumps
We are excited to announce that the old gas pumps attracted great donations and each found a home on the island! The winners, our generous donors, were Jeffery Quinn and Tom Tillman.

Olga Daze
Olga Daze returned triumphantly on July 16th after 2-year hiatus! Friends of The Olga Store set up a table in the Olga Store parking lot and provided information, games, and gifts to the people. We even received $2k of donations!

Info booths on the Village Green
Our team also set up one evening on the Village Green, to answer questions and get the word out about our Phase III fundraiser underway!

Sequel Fund
Sequel, our local consignment shop, will be taking donations for the Olga Store! When you take your old clothes to the shop, you can tell them to give your sales credit to The Olga Store.

Donations and loans
If you are able to give a large donation or offer an affordable loan, please contact us.
We are happy to meet with you personally to discuss.

Budget details are on our website as well as information on our progress to date.
Need more info? please contact us by email at friends@theolgastore.org.

Check out this concrete progress! We're in Phase III of fundraising and need all hands on deck to reopen our doors.

How can you help?!

FUNDRAISING PARTY/PHONE BANK

On June 15 we are having a fund raising party/ phone bank at the Coop from 4-6:30. Email friends@theolgastore.org if you want to join!

HISTORIC GAS TANK BID

The highest two donation pledges emailed to friends@theolgastore.org will take home these iconic treasures!

DONATE TODAY and help spread the word!

THANK YOU!

Newsletter #12 — May 2022

Hello Friends,

As summer dawns, we are moving full-steam ahead on building renovations and are entering into Phase III fundraising, to complete this project!

In January of 2020 we raised enough funds to purchase our beloved Olga Store as a community. An amazing accomplishment! We've come such a long way thanks to the generosity of our community near and far.

Now we need your help to get to the finish line.
We are asking again, for you to open your hearts and wallets and help bring this project to completion!

HISTORIC GAS PUMPS

We have received questions from several people about the old gas pumps and will be offering them as a Thank You gift to the two highest donors in a special donation drive!

If you are interested in owning this piece of Olga Store history, please email your pledge amount to friends@theolgastore.org with the subject line “Gas Pump Donation” by June 15th.

We will get back to the two highest donors by June 20th. The donor with the highest pledge will choose which pump they would like. The 2nd highest pledge will receive the second pump.

Please note these pumps are NOT in working order, and the donor will be responsible for pickup. The pledged donation must be received before the pump is picked up.

Thank you!

Newsletter #11— April 2022

What’s in Store!

Work continues on our Olga Store Building… deconstruction is essentially complete, renovations are beginning! Electrical is being

installed. Heating and Air Conditioning are moving along. Plumbing will be coming

soon. We have acquired new siding.

Unfortunately, the original wood floors were found to be too damaged to be safe to use, but our fabulous contractors will be getting the wood for the new floors from Island trees.

You may have received a post card recently, asking for donations, which are needed to pay for the rest of the renovations.

Speaking of donations… we received beautiful replicas of Union 76 Gas pumps (pictured here)

from a generous donor who will take care of the installation this summer!

We also just got a $6,000 estimate to install Fiber internet connection to the building and hope there is someone who would like to fund this project and bring our old store into the 21 st century.

If you are a volunteer with construction skills, who would be capable of working independently, please be sure to fill out our volunteer form!

Thank you to our community.

Our Olga Store will rise and shine again!

Newsletter #10 — February 2022

We are moving ahead!

We have received final approval from the County on all permits! Due to COVID, permitting and materials costs, we've had to jump many hurdles, but are now seeing the light.

The deconstruction phase is almost complete. Our contractors, Josh and Jason, and their crew, are anxious to start the actual renovations for the Co-op, Community Space and The Post Office!!

In order to keep costs down, we are now looking for some volunteers to help with construction; specifically, we need volunteers who have construction experience. Volunteers need to be able to work independently after being assigned a task. If you are interested, please fill out the volunteer form on this website (See header “Volunteer.”) Josh and Jason will screen all the forms and we will call you up when the need arises.

For those of you who have already signed up to volunteer, Thank You and you will also be contacted as needed. Other volunteer opportunities will be available as we progress!

In certain instances, you may be able to deduct the cost of your labor, as an “In Kind” donation to the Friends of the Olga Store Building. We are so grateful to our community for helping bring this project to fruition!

The next several months will be filled with constant activity and productivity. It is exciting to know that our Olga Store will rise and shine again.

Newsletter #9— January 2022

We would like to introduce you to our wonderful and skillful contractors!

Joshua Johns (left) is the owner and founder of Bowerbird Builders. He moved to Orcas
Island with his family in 2011, where his passion for art and craftsmanship could weave into his
work as a contractor. Inspired by sustainable and mindful building, he has put together a
team of talented professionals and works steadily to create homes, solutions and sacred spaces for the community of Orcas Island.

Jason Smith (right) has had a lifelong passion for building. He completed an apprenticeship under “old school” carpenters, learning the tricks of the trade and how to build by the book. He has worked almost 2 decades in commercial construction on a
wide variety of projects. He is now a sole proprietor and has done new construction as well as remodels and additions. He loves the technical aspects of carpentry and finding solutions to construction puzzles.

We are so pleased to have these two bringing our Olga Store Building back to life.We are still working on some details for our next fundraiser, but if you want to get the New Year off to a great start, feel free to make a donation now!

As always, we need our community’s support to bring this dream to final realization. The Friends of the Olga Store Building (FOSB) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and we will gladly accept your donation prior to the end of the 2021.

Newsletter #8--December 2021

Our contractor is in the building and we’re so excited to arrive at our renovation stage of this visionary project!

Board members of the Friends of the Olga Store Building and the Orcas Food Co-op met with Olga Store project contractor recently (who we will be introducing to you soon!) They reviewed renovation plans, answered questions and arrived on the same page for what needs to happen next.

Feeling generous this holiday season?
During our fundraising warmup, we invite you to celebrate with us by making a donation to The Olga Store rebuild, and giving a gift to generations to come.
As always, we welcome donations through our website, through mail at P.O. Box 21 Olga, WA 98279, or direct deposit into Friends of The Olga Store account at Banner Bank.

In January we will be announcing our new renovation fundraising goal, which will bring us to our opening date! Please help us make 2022 the year we invite you back inside the historic Olga Store!

Newsletter # 7— November 2021

Happy November! It's been a wet one.

Our Olga Store building is getting cleaned out to prepare for renovation! You'll be happy to hear, we are keeping the beadboard ceiling and original wood floors in the to-be Post Office (hopefully even the mason jar lids patching holes in the floor.)

Thanks to all who have signed up to volunteer, including Fred Enge, who documented this chapter. Hopefully soon, we'll be able to call on painters and gardeners, etc!

Newsletter #6 —October, 2021

Our permits all passed at last!!! Now we can begin building. Thank you for your patient support. We’re so excited to pick up the momentum and give you more exciting updates soon!

Newsletter #5— August, 2021

GOOD NEWS!—As we mentioned several weeks ago, per the county’s issuing of unprecedented permit requirements… we hired an architect and have now sent these additional drawings to the county. Now we wait again, for approval.

We are anxiously waiting, along with our contractor, the Post Office, the Co-op and all of you!

TSHIRTS ETC—By popular request, our logo can now be printed on any shirt, hat, etc. at Printshop Northwest! (online printshopnorthwest.com or in-person at their Eastsound store) A percentage of proceeds will be donated to our effort!

Thank you for your patience.

We’re so glad we were able to secure our community’s purchase of The Olga Store before pandemic and soaring real estate prices broke. The past 18 months have been so very challenging, but we continue to persevere together towards this collective dream coming true.

Your continued support keeps us going, and we can hardly wait to finally begin construction!

“On Wednesday, Feb. 26 postal employee Oshen Schiweck lowered the stars and stripes for the last time at the Olga Post Office.

Built nearly 60 years ago, the small red building outgrew its space and will soon be moving across the street into the recently community-purchased Olga Store. Curiously, the Olga Store was the site of hamlet’s first post office.

Until the new site is ready, Olga’s PO Box holders will travel to the Eastsound Post Office to retrieve their mail.”

https://www.islandssounder.com/life/olga-post-office-closes/

We're still URGENTLY calling in pledges by New Years Day.

Call a friend and remind them!

Double your donation if you can!

Donate on Facebook or our website... every bit counts!

Thank you for helping us make this holiday miracle come true!

Honoring John Willis, lifetime Olga resident, 3rd generation weather-keeper, man of nature and dear neighbor.

https://orcasissues.com/event/john-willis-memorial-2/

We are honored to be memorial recipients...
"The family requests that any contributions be directed to the Orcas Island Museum (PO Box 134, Eastsound, WA. 98245) or toward the efforts of moving the Olga Post Office to the Olga Store building (Island Stewards (FOSB) at PO Box 21, Olga WA 98279).

John’s family has asked for any stories or memories of John be collected by the Historical Museum. You may email them to info@orcasmuseums.org "

9/6/19 Community meeting with Orcas Food Co-op

Thank you to all those that came out to our Community Meeting with Friends of The Olga Store and Orcas Food Co-op!
We had some big enthusiasm, good questions and shared ideas.

We need YOU to volunteer, donate, participate in this reclamation of The Olga Store for the community!

Here is what we presented:

-USPS gave us official letter telling stating they want to be in The Olga Store! Thanks to all who wrote letters. (please see the floor plan that USPS accepted)
-The Orcas Food Co-op Board voted (9-0) in favor of exploring the option of a Co-op Cafe in the remaining South-facing sun porch! (See their floor plan)
-FOSB has met our first goal of $20,000 to make offer on the building
-We have secured a private $200,000 low interest loan and $200,000 matching donation (which we need the community to match!) The agreed upon price is $650,000 with $200,000 expected renovations.
-The Land Bank has come out twice to see the building and discuss including it in their historic easement portfolio.
-We are collecting pledges! All emails and pledges collected by former group Save Our Post Office did not transfer to us, so we need your pledge amounts for donation and loan! (mailed to PO Box 21 Olga WA 98279 or emailed to friends@theolgastore.org)
-We have heard the traffic and parking concerns and invite participation and commentary in creating a plan.

The Co-op shared their exciting vision for a satellite location selling basic groceries, coffee and baked goods (made in town.) During a brainstorming session, they asked each table to write down what they would want to see in the store and what concerns they had. They even brought snacks. We could not have imagined a more perfect collaborator for The Olga Store and indeed many have imagined it for a while. Thank you Co-op for collaborating with us!

Onward!

8/20/19 Meetings, Business Plan and Pledges rolling in!

Did you know The Olga Store has been home to the Post Office before? (See the mail slot on the south front door.)

We Friends of the Olga Store are amidst big meetings these days with donors, lenders, Land Bank and Food Coop... scoping out potential collaborators, and polishing our 34-page Business Plan and Feasibility Report.

Pledges are coming in to PO Box 21 and our Donation button is live on our website.

Thank you to all those volunteering funds and talents at this time.

Stay tuned!

7/20/19 Olga Daze

Good to be at Olga Daze yesterday, starting our LETTER-WRITING CAMPAIGN to the Post Office!

It's time to let USPS know, on the record, where we want them to locate in Olga!
They will take public comment until August 10.

Please join us in writing letters (with return address) to:
Greg Shelton
United States Postal Service
200 E Kentucky Ave
Denver, CO 80209-4058

7/11/19 Community meeting with USPS

Our community meeting with USPS Relocation Team brought out so many folks we didn’t fit in the Olga Community Center and had to move out into the park!

One hundred sixty-seven people attended the meeting and showed unanimous support and rowdy enthusiasm for reclaiming The Olga Store with the intention of housing our Post Office within the existing store or a small build-out to the North.

Friends of the Olga Store (FOSB,) former organization Save Our Post Office (SOPO,) USPS, County Commissioner Rick Hughes, Island Sounder and many residents of Olga, Doe Bay, and beyond were representing.

USPS shared that they would prefer to lease an existing structure over barging in a permanent modular unit, and that they would consider leasing initially for 10 years. They hope to be in Olga for a long time to come.

Thank you all for coming out.

Let’s get to work!