Rotary pays, H{-2}O sprays, Bellevue kids play

The Bellevue Breakfast Rotary Club is about to make a big splash with kids.

Thanks to the service club, ground will be broken later this year for a water-spray play area at Crossroads Park. Rotarians have raised more than $250,000 toward the $1 million project.

Their seed money gave the parks department leverage to pick up a couple of additional grants, essentially doubling the down payment.

"They came to us," said Pam Fehrman, project manager with Bellevue's parks department. "They wanted to build a playground that focused on accessibility."

Crossroads Park was expanded in recent years from a hidden area behind Crossroads Shopping Center to a 35-acre chunk that now fronts Northeast Eighth Street.

In keeping with the culturally diverse area of Bellevue, the water-play area will have an international theme.

When completed, probably sometime next year, the water-spray area will feature a spouting whale or two and a giant globe.

It will be zero depth, meaning it isn't a wading pool but a play area with water.

"Although this was part of the long-range planning, this would not have been happening now if it weren't for the Rotary coming to the city and asking to partner with us," Fehrman said.

How did the 120-member Bellevue Breakfast Rotary raise $250,000?

"We did it $2 at a time selling raffle tickets for a car in front of QFC," said fundraising chair Norm Johnson. "There are so many worthy causes out there it makes your head spin, but for Rotary's centennial we wanted something a little different that would have an impact on the local community."

The Breakfast Rotary Club now will be raising money one step at a time instead of one raffle ticket at a time.

They're hosting a Hike For Healthy Kids walkathon April 28 to raise money and promote a healthier community. (For information, go to www.bbrc.net.)

Speaking of $$$

Jane Boldrey, a junior at Bellevue Christian School, led a team of teens who raised more than $5,000 for the recent Northshore YMCA Partners for Youth Campaign. Boldrey, 17, of Redmond, personally raised $2,100 by asking Northshore parents and community members for donations.

Among other things, the Partners Campaign provides scholarship funds for YMCA student programs.

Boldrey has been participating in Y activities since she was 7, thanks in part to scholarship funds. She now teaches a healthy lifestyle class to students 9 to 14 years old.

"The Y sets people up to go out and create a positive environment for kids like me," Boldrey said.

Taste treat

Lane Hoss has been commuting often to Olympia in recent days.

Unlike many headed to the capital, Hoss has not been visiting the Legislature. She's the marketing director for Kirkland-based Anthony's Restaurants. The company will open a new restaurant in Olympia this month, Anthony's Hearth Fire Grill. It will have a wider selection of beef and pork dishes as well as seafood, she said.

Sherry Grindeland: 206-515-5633 or sgrindeland@seattletimes.com