,

Tacoma Community: 10 Ways to Connect in September

,
Savoring the warm still-summer days with Sunday afternoon coffee on the patio is one of the ways we take time for peace, quiet, and enjoyment.

Savoring the warm still-summer days with Sunday afternoon coffee on the patio is one of the ways we take time for peace, quiet, and enjoyment.

Summer is waning. Not gone, not over, not yet past, but we can feel the change in foggy mornings, dew-heavy grass, brittle flower stalks, shorter days, earlier sunsets, and all the talk of how to create a viable semblance of “back to school” for all the kids from kindergartners to college students. No one needs to hear us say anything about how it’s been a strange year. You’ve noticed. Maybe what you could stand to hear is what’s still happening around town, what’s still bringing people together in Tacoma. What you can look forward to on a Friday night, or maybe even, how you can help with your time, skills, efforts, or funds.

That’s what this September events list is all about, connecting to community. You’ll find a vintage yard sale, community meals, opportunities to give your time to people and to the environment, a public art tour, new pizza places, a cooking class, and more. We hope you find something for you, something that gives you hope and gets you through. Take a look.

Connect to Tacoma with Events & Gatherings

1. Takeout Thursdays to Benefit the Humane Society for Tacoma & Pierce County

Thursday, September 3rd
9 am - 12 am
Doyle’s Public House
208 St Helen’s Ave, Tacoma

  • Support the Stadium District’s favorite Irish Pub, Doyle’s Public House, AND support animals in need of care

  • 20% of the proceeds from takeout orders on September 3 go to the Humane Society for Tacoma & Pierce County

  • Burgers, salads, pretzels, shepherd’s pie, or maybe breakfast - Bourbon brioche French toast! Make your order online and enjoy!

2. All Star Vintage & Friends Yard Sale

Sunday, September 6th
11 am - 3 pm
Lincoln District
S 38th & Park Ave, Tacoma

  • Free entry - street parking

  • A little back to school season shopping IRL with All Star Vintage and a mix of Tacoma vintage curators

  • Lincoln District Flea Market recommends you then go support one of many POC owned restaurants or cafes in the Lincoln District

  • Masks required and vendors will be ready with hand sanitizer

3. FREE FOOD BOXES FOR FAMILIES

Tuesdays, September 8th & 22nd
10 am
Tacoma Community House
1314 S L St, Tacoma

  • Free

  • Emergency Food Network and Tacoma Community House are partnering to offer free boxes of food for people in the community who could use some help with food security

  • First-come first-served

  • Enter the parking lot from L Street

  • Staff offering the food boxes will wear masks and keep their distance to keep the community safe

  • Interested in more community meals? See our August post for more community meals offered weekly around Tacoma!

Image from Tacoma Ocean Fest

Image from Tacoma Ocean Fest

4. Tacoma Ocean Fest Online 2020

Sunday, September 13th
10 am - 5 pm
Online at tacomaoceanfest.org

  • Free

  • This annual event at the Foss Waterway Seaport is a celebration of art, science, and water

  • Arts: music, dance, artist livestreams, underwater film, Youth Story Contest, and installations at the Foss Waterway Seaport

  • Eco-booths: marine science education, virtual booths, diy at home activities, new Ocean Action game

  • Water: get involved with the Tacoma Splash photo challenge and win prizes!

  • Learn more about all aspects of this event at tacomaoceanfest.org

Image from Molly’s Tamales

Image from Molly’s Tamales

5. Fresh Corn Tamales

Saturday, September 19th
3 - 5 pm
Online From Home

  • $45 - register and prepay here

  • Join the online cooking classes via Zoom - Molly will provide the link and password

  • She’ll also provide shopping lists ahead of time to make sure you’re all set

  • We’ve attended Molly’s vegetarian tamales class in-person, as well as an online cooking class, and many of her markets and events, so we absolutely encourage you to give this a try

  • Eating at home and making your own can be so delicious!

Connect to Tacoma with Self-Guided Tours

6. Find (and eat!) New Pizza in Tacoma

There’s some good pizza out there in Tacoma. Maybe you always go to the same old place. Great. I love going to the same old place. But, if you haven’t been to one or two of the new places (small, local businesses struggling to get started and thrive during the pandemic) go give ‘em a try. Besides, pizza is one of the most classic takeout options, which is perfect for these weird times.

Image from Tacoma Pie

Image from Tacoma Pie

Tacoma Pie

7104 6th Ave, Tacoma

  • Open Thursday - Saturday, 5 - 9 pm

  • Detroit style, Sicilian style, Grandma style

  • Deep dish - the crust is thick and high, and crisp, and soft, and so much lighter than it looks - delicious!

  • p.s. One of these pizzas turned into 3 meals for the 2 of us (we usually eat the whole thing!)

  • Served from the commercial kitchen at The Gourmet Niche

Image from State Street Beer, photo credit Chris Daniels

Image from State Street Beer, photo credit Chris Daniels

State Street Beer Co.

606 N State St, Tacoma

  • Wednesday - Sunday

  • Okay, we all know State Street Beer Co. isn’t new, but their pizza is!

  • State Street has a legit pizza oven now, pita pizza no longer!

  • Thin, chewy, crusty wonder, and they make a vegan one too

The Main Ingredient Pizzeria

5419 S Tacoma Way, Tacoma

  • Open Daily

  • New York Style crust

  • Classic pie menu with some good looking vegetarian toppings, nice combinations, and build-your-own options

  • We haven’t tried this one yet, it’s pretty new!

  • Go, say “hello” and tell us what you think - if we get there first, we’ll let you know

  • If you remember Stonegate Pizza, just head there, The Main Ingredient moved into that spot

Image from Spaceworks Tacoma

Image from Spaceworks Tacoma

7. Spaceworks Artscapes Art Walk

Any day you want
Any time you want (daylight is best)
All over Tacoma

  • Free self-guided tour of some of Tacoma’s public murals

  • Follow the route from south to north created by Spaceworks to see 10 murals around Tacoma, or start at the one closest to home (you’ll find the murals listed by address and artist in the caption of this post)

  • Love these murals and want to support funding so more artists can create murals for buildings around our city (lots of businesses welcome them!)? Go ahead and send a donation to Spaceworks if you can!

Connect to Tacoma by Volunteering, Donating & Accessing Services

Go visit this special park, eat some blueberries, and make sure to leave it at least as clean as you found it.

Go visit this special park, eat some blueberries, and make sure to leave it at least as clean as you found it.

8. Charlotte’s Blueberry Park Volunteer Work Party

Saturday, September 26th
9 am - 12 pm
Charlotte’s Blueberry Park
7402 E D St, Tacoma

  • Free volunteer event - register here

  • Help keep this beloved Tacoma park clean and free from invasive species

  • If you already know about Charlotte’s Blueberry Park, a free, u-pick blueberry farm open to all, then you know it’s a secret too sweet to keep

  • During COVID-19 group size is limited, so please be sure to register (a household counts as 1 volunteer within the limit)

  • Cleanup continues rain or shine, so dress for the weather - masks and gloves required (gloves provided in case you don’t own a pair)

  • Also, if you miss this day, or if it’s already full of volunteers, take a look at other Tacoma park cleanup opportunities for a chance to lend a hand

9. Tacoma Rescue Mission - Serve Morning Coffee

425 S Tacoma Way, Tacoma

  • Tacoma Rescue Mission could use your help serving coffee during breakfast

  • Staff capacity and supplies have been lower during the COVID-19 pandemic, but people still need coffee to help start their day with some comfort and a boost, you can step in!

  • If you’d like to help by serving coffee at breakfast, by donating to-go coffee cups and lids, or both, send an e-mail to volunteer@trm.org or register to volunteer here

  • Follow Tacoma Rescue Mission on Instagram and Facebook to stay in the loop about items they need, or other ways they can use your help

10. Peace Community Center - Volunteer, Donate, Get Support

2106 S Cushman Ave, Tacoma

Peace Community Center, located in the Hilltop Neighborhood of Tacoma, supports students and families from elementary school through college graduation. With both in-school, after school, and summer programs, Peace creates relationships with students through wholistic one-on-one tutoring and mentoring, as well as social and group activities. As you can imagine, the structure of this support has changed with the closure of school buildings. Throughout this tough time of students and families trying to access education with distance learning, Peace has created internet hotspots in areas of need, loaned out computers, delivered food, hygiene, and supply kits, and offered hours and hours of tutoring online. If you’re interested in volunteering, donating, or accessing tutoring for your student (focus on the Hilltop Neighborhood and students historically underrepresented in higher education), take a closer look at Peace Community Center!

Keep in touch about Tacoma life, community, homes, and a bit about us

Not every listing comes ready made and fully expressed. Funds (we’re talking dollars here) are always vital when purchasing a property, but sometimes a vision and a plan are just as important as the cash 🔮 What could this place become? 🏡💈?
May is Bike Month 🚴🏽‍♀️ May is Historic Preservation Month ⏳ May holds Affordable Housing Week 🏠 May is the month for a lightsaber battle, for live music and crafts in Old Town Park, for night markets, plant sales at your local high school🪴 f
Happy May Day from the columbine and apple blossoms, the forget-me-nots, bluebells, lilac and huckleberry, from the rhododendron, weigela, and rosemary. They’re singing with color and scent and humming with bees. Each year I bring in a sample o
Today is closing day for our Community Central listing and that means it’s time for flowers! 💐☀🎉 Listed 3/28/24, Under Contract 4/1/24, Closed 4/30/24 just as the oak tree out front is showing fresh new leaves. Let the rest of this post be an
My Grandpa Harry was born and raised in Bremerton and this is his childhood home just up the street from downtown and the ship yards where his dad worked. I never needed to write down the address from his stories—1234 5th Street. Our Lady Star
🏰 In 1906—when the population of Tacoma was about 55,000—the first class of students enrolled at Tacoma High. We now all know this school with its outstanding architecture as Stadium High, and though a certain film placed it in Seattle (
Featured
What's Happening, Tacoma? 21 May Events
What's Happening, Tacoma? 21 May Events

May is Bike Month. May is Historic Preservation Month. May holds Affordable Housing Week. May is the month for a lightsaber battle, for live music and crafts in Old Town Park, for night markets, plant sales at your local high school, hands-on printmaking and paper arts, and locally made short films. It’s the month to learn about the history of Tacoma, and even contribute your own story at events like the Eastside Story Fest. It’s the month to pick-up litter with a bunch of nice people, the month to set out nutritious foods for your mail carrier to share with the food bank, the month to take time to learn more about affordable housing. It’s the month to tune up your bike and join a group ride.

Out on the Town 2024: Tacoma Tuesdays
Out on the Town 2024: Tacoma Tuesdays

Tacoma, Tuesdays, Trivia, Tacos, Talent. It’s the truth, there’s stuff to do. We have 19 of those things listed right here (twenty would have sounded so good) and not all of them start with “t.” There’s ballet and book club, wine and film, story time and bingo. So dust off your dancing shoes, clean your spectacles, strap the baby in a stroller, study up on random facts, warm up your vocal chords, and work up an appetite; it’s Tuesday in Tacoma!

Tacoma Love: 5 Good Things—Vol. 4
Tacoma Love: 5 Good Things—Vol. 4

This is not an ultimate, all time, best of the best, win or go home, top 5 list. No, we aren’t really bringing that kind of energy to life. This is the 4th edition of 5 things we like in Tacoma from a list of way more things we like in Tacoma. Sound good? An annual rogue art treasure hunt, a tiny slip of sandy beach, an old place to watch new and cult classic films, a weekly opportunity for repairing your stuff, and a spot where the noodles and broth fill you up in a good way. Some of it’s free. All of it’s good. We’re not making any other claims (who needs all that best-stress anyway?).

The Sunset Side: Tacoma's Other Waterfront
The Sunset Side: Tacoma's Other Waterfront

This month we're here to give a shout out to the other waterfront, the home of Titlow Beach, Seashore Drive, the iconic Narrows Bridges, and the Tacoma sunset. We’ll share where we eat and what we order, the trails we like to take, and what makes this side of the city feel like home. All you need is one evening for a waterfront getaway.

Tacoma High 5 - August 2023
Tacoma High 5 - August 2023

Tacoma High 5 is our way to nudge you toward what we love about Tacoma. It’s a short list with a commitment to the local—it embraces the season, invites a bit of variety into life, encourages a spirit of exploration and some generosity as well. This month’s list includes a benefit concert with karaoke, a music festival staged on porches across Central Tacoma, block parties and outdoor markets, free berries, a favorite local publication, a neighborhood clean-up, and the chance to support the YWCA while eating hot dogs and nacho cheese. Maybe we’ll see you out there!

  1. Community Event

  2. Sweet Treat

  3. Exploration & Adventure

  4. Local Love

  5. Volunteering & Sharing

Tacoma Outdoor Dining Guide
Tacoma Outdoor Dining Guide

Want to go out and really be out—out in the open air, beneath a colorful umbrella, on a shaded patio, beside a bustling sidewalk, seated on a deck overlooking the water, pulled up to a bar counter by the street? We’ve gathered Tacoma’s outdoor dining spots by neighborhood to get you started. Take a look at our list of restaurants, cafes, and bars with outdoor seating, then get yourself away from the screen, out the door, and into the life of Tacoma’s summer. See you out there!

Hi, I'm Michael Duggan, a licensed broker with Windermere Abode. I would love to help you through the home buying or selling process. Please contact me to set up a meeting and get things started.