It's a Good Week to Enjoy Tacoma's Parks

This is a great week to get out and enjoy Tacoma’s parks: celebrations, re-openings, and other outdoor events…

Beer & Bikes 

First things first: this has nothing to do with parks, but we love The Red Hot, so we want to make sure you see this: The Red Hot welcomes bicyclists and bike fans to partake of TRH Pint Pedaler: A Bike Map to Tacoma’s Craft Breweries.  They’re setting up the beer garden and readying Tacoma’s only on-street bike corral for the festivities, which will include  raffles, limited edition spokecards, Pierce County Bike Maps, bike troubleshooting and tune-up help from Tacoma’s 2nd Cycle (noon-4PM), and plenty of craft beer for thirsty cyclists. Event info is on Facebook or www.piercetrips.com/bike-month.

Okay, now off to the park…

After sitting closed for far too long (five years, to be exact), the $2.3 million renovation of Old Town Dock is finally complete, and we can once again stroll down the Old Town Dock, which reopened to the public on Wednesday.   The ribbon cutting ceremony was Wednesday morning, but a bigger celebration including a dedication and art unveiling is planned for Sunday, June 16, at 11 a.m.

Tacoma’s STAR Center

This Saturday, May 18, Tacoma’s STAR Center celebrates its first birthday with enough fun events to make a party for any age: a two-mile outdoor adventure run; classes and demonstrations in healthy cooking, Kendo, hip hop, wheelchair basketball, Zumba, still-life drawing, belly dancing, and more; live theatre performance; and a decoder-ring scavenger hunt.  And you don’t even have to worry about a gift or messing with wrapping paper - who wouldn’t want to go to that birthday party?  Read more here.

People’s Park

People’s Park at 9th and MLK in the Hilltop has undergone a few improvements in recent months, including tree plantings, bike racks, perimeter sidewalk repairs, decorative fencing, picnic tables and benches, irrigation upgrades, landscape improvements, a new stage at the lower end of the park, and the relocation of the play area and basketball court. The public is invited to celebrate the re-opening of the park next Wednesday, May 22, from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at an event that will feature the dedication of a new public art installation created by Paul Rucker and Fab-5, a performance from the DASH Center, live music, and light refreshments from neighborhood businesses.

Bear Awareness

If you’re looking to get out of town this weekend, keep Northwest Trek in mind - they’re celebrating Bear Awareness Weekend Saturday and Sunday, May 18 and 19 with games, crafts, hands-on activities, and of course a whole park full of Northwest nature at its most beautiful - complete with baby animals like the baby bison born recently.  Find out more at www.nwtrek.org.

Trails Day

If all these park festivities and improvements are inspiring you to want to make some parks improvements of your own, this year’s Trails Day may be just the opportunity you need.  Sign up now to volunteer on Saturday, June 1 from 9 a.m. to noon in celebration of National Trails Day,by working and restoring trails at Titlow Park or Point Defiance. Learn more and sign up at www.metroparkstacoma.org.  

These are a few of the events we noticed coming up - what else is not to be missed over the weekend and beyond?