June 2026 Sunriver Scene - Flipbook - Page 14
Second Tern workers are busy as bees gearing up for summer
By SNCO Staff
Visiting the Second Tern
Thrift Store on a summer
weekend, one thing becomes
immediately clear. It’s busy!
Hangers clank against racks
and new items are added to
shelves. Carts filled with fresh
goods roll from shed to shed,
sorted in their designated areas. Shoppers weave carefully
through aisles carrying baskets
of books, dishes and vintage
treasures. Volunteers ring up
each item in a steady stream
throughout the day. Donations
flow in the back, are processed
by volunteers inside, and flow
out again as sales. Every corner
of the store seems alive with
motion. A buzz of activity fills
the air all in service of two
goals: keeping usable items
in circulation and supporting
environmental education in our
community. This frenzy of collaborative, purposeful activity
resembles nothing so much as
a busy beehive in a blooming
summer garden. The comparison is surprisingly fitting.
Honeybees can start their
workday once the temperature
is above 55 degrees Fahrenheit
The Second Tern's busy bees enjoy a restful summer picnic.
and it is suitable for them to
leave the hive. Tern volunteers
don’t love chilly weather either,
though they can be powered
up by coffee, baked goods and
morning tea.
Once ready to go, like worker
bees, volunteers embody a
range of roles. Some receive
donations, others sort and price
items, and others assist customers. This is not entirely unlike
the forager bees whose job is
to collect pollen, nectar, and
water to bring into the hive, and
the processor bees who receive
nectar from foragers, dry it into
that golden honey and cap honey cells for storage. In our case,
the “honey” produced by our
volunteers is their commitment
to supporting our community.
Revenue from the Tern helps
support field trips, family programs, summer camps, and
many other educational ex-
2026
3rd Tuesday
of the month
from
1 to 2:30 PM
Location: Community Room at
Sunriver Christian Fellowship
18139 Cottonwood Rd
periences that connect people
with the natural world. For
many local students, programs
at the nature center provide
their first close encounter with
wildlife, including a real-life
observational beehive.
The queen bee, the guiding force behind it all, is our
founding vision. This vision has
persisted much longer than real
queen bees, whose lifespan is
typically just two to three years.
The Second Tern Thrift Store
was founded back in 1988 with
the intention of serving as a
revenue stream for the Sunriver
Nature Center & Observatory
and an effort to help keep goods
out of the landfill. Nearly 40
years later, the Tern serves as
a vital source of support for
SNCO’s programs and operations through its sales. We also
“pass on” items we don’t have
the capacity for to more than
10 nonprofit and charitable
organizations. Little truly goes
to waste. Items that are not useable are recycled. Even torn or
stained clothing is not thrown
away. We work with a company
that recycles textile waste into
industrial insulation.
Working within this ecosystem, we rely on your donations
and your choice to shop with
us. That kind of reciprocity, that pollination, is what
keeps the cycle going. Like
any healthy organism, our
volunteer hive can also adapt
to change as it comes. For everyone, COVID was a time of
great uncertainty. But the Tern
remained open whenever possible. Many volunteers needed
to stay home, and we had to
limit the number of shoppers in
the store. That period made the
Tern more adaptable, and better able to grow with the changing needs of our community. In
a beehive, no single bee sustains
the colony alone. Each task, no
matter how small, contributes
to the survival of everything.
The same is true at the Tern. A
volunteer sorting greeting cards
by occasion or folding towels for
display may seem like a small
role, but together those efforts
create something much larger
than any one person could accomplish independently.
In a world increasingly defined by disposable goods
and fast consumption, places
like the Second Tern offer another path rooted in reuse
and stewardship, proof that
small individual contributions
can combine into something
meaningful and lasting.
If you want to support the
Second Tern’s busy bees, donate,
shop, or stop in to fill out a
volunteer application.
If you are interested in learning more about bees, other pollinators and native plants, join
us for our annual Wildflower
Show and Pollinator Festival at
the Sunriver Nature Center on
June 27. Visit www.snco.org for
more information.
What is a Memory Cafe?
Memory Cafes are welcoming social gatherings for all people
living with changes in their memory or thinking, and the people
who care about them. The program follows the International
Café model. A Cafe is a place to have fun together, talk with
others who understand what you’re going through, and try
something new! For any questions ormore information, please
contact: cognitiveconnectionssunriver@gmail.com
Save the Dates!
June 16
1ST SATURDAY EACH MONTH
4:00 - 5:45 PM
Welcome Summer Come enjoy Summer Picture Bingo with prizes,
AT S H A R C ’ S L I V I N G R O O M
Cornhole, and Root Beer floats!
July 21
August
TBA
BRING A NON BREAKABLE CUP, NO GLASS/CERAMIC
YOUR BEVERAGE OF CHOICE,
AND AN APPETIZER TO SHARE, IF YOU’D LIKE
NO RSVP REQUIRED
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JUNE 2026 SUNRIVER SCENE
