Best Community Volunteers: Bev, Nels, Danny

Published 2:13 pm Wednesday, March 25, 2015

These people don’t need last names any more. The dedicated locals who consistently make the list for readers’ choice of Best Community Volunteer have become household names.

There’s Bev Jorgenson, a North Bend resident and chairperson for the Valley’s Relay for Life event.

“I want to be a volunteer, that’s my passion,” she said. “I want to help. If I could afford to just be a volunteer and not do anything else, then I would devote my life to that.”

And there’s Nels Melgaard, who also owns the Best Farm in the Valley, The Nursery at Mount Si. Melgaard wears many hats in the community, including business owner, Grange board member and wrestling coach, although he’s had to limit his activities for health reasons.

He doesn’t deny very many requests.

“If my name is synonymous with The Nursery at Mount Si, well the Nursery doesn’t say no often to any organization that wants to do something,” he said.

And there’s Danny Kolke, creator of the acclaimed Boxley’s Place, Boxley Music Fund, and two of the Valley’s newest big events, the North Bend Jazz and Blues Walks.

It all centers on music for Kolke, a professional musician himself.  He created the Boxley Music Fund to support live music events, and his restaurant hosts student performances every week, in addition to live music every night. He said he started the club almost six years ago, because there weren’t many jazz clubs that kids could go to.

“Our goal with the music fund is to support the community,” he said.