LYNNWOOD — Eric Patno was struck by the beauty of the lavender fields on a visit to Sequim last year.
Lavender is easy to grow. “Basically, I thought it was a great way to beautify the neighborhood,” he said.
Patno lives in the area of Lynnwood’s Penny Lane. He applied for one of the city’s new “Love Your Block” grants. The city offers grants of up to $500 for neighborhood improvement projects.
In all, nine neighborhoods obtained the grants last year. The city hopes to award up to 10 this year. Applications are due by June 1 and are available through the city’s website.
At 43, Patno has lived in Lynnwood for most of his life. He runs a small nonprofit aimed at protecting bees and their habitat. Lavender is bee-friendly. He planted the flowers in common areas and greenbelts and in yards where he had permission. Within days, bees and butterflies started visiting, he said.
“It’s exciting to see how fast our projects work,” he said.
Linda Forbes, 69, lives in the Acorn Townhomes. She saw an item about the grants in the city newsletter. She helped plan an outdoor cleanup party last fall.
“We’re just a small neighborhood,” she said. “We needed something that would bond us all together and make the area look nice with a little bit of elbow grease.”
In addition, some folks from Acorn went to an emergency skills class and learned about making disaster readiness kits, Forbes said. They came back and shared that information.
Emergency preparedness also was a theme for a Love Your Block project in the Lynndale area last year. A group of people, including Diane Grossenbacher, 57, put together a cache of emergency supplies to share, including two-way radios and traffic-safety vests.
Love Your Block is part of Lynnwood’s Healthy Communities program, said Marielle Harrington with the city. Social connections between neighbors are part of those efforts.
“They can come together on projects they feel passionate about,” she said.
Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @rikkiking.
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