Stop by a local nursery or grocery store like Harbor Greens on Bridgeport for primroses or other early bloomers to brighten your life. Mine come back year after year and they only cost a dollar or two.
Last March we published our monthly events list as usual. And one by one, those events we shared had to be cancelled. The Stay Home, Stay Healthy order guided all of us to avoid gatherings, exercise caution, limit contact. That month, March 2020, feels close and far at the same time. A year later, those large gatherings are still a thing of the past, and a hope for the future, but not part of our present.
Despite all the changes, challenges, struggles, and sorrow, and even because of them, there is still so much for you in the Tacoma community. The message is still safety, caution, patience, and care. And with all of that, there can be connection. I’m connecting to the past by using the same image for March 2021 as I did for March 2020, because no matter what year it is, and no matter what else is going on, the daffodils do bloom.
Find 10 ways to connect to Tacoma community this month in our list below. It’s a mix - Tacoma is always a mix - with chances to share food, get or give help with laundry, listen to local voices about growing up bi-racial, talk with an author about publication, shop vintage in Lincoln, pick up a craft kit in Old Town, take a virtual bus trip to learn about transportation and gentrification in Hilltop. Join, give, receive, support.
Connect to Tacoma with Events & Gatherings
Image from Casita Tacoma
1. Lincoln District Vintage Walk
Saturday & Sunday
March 6th & 7th
11 am - 5 pm
Lincoln District, Tacoma
Vintage dealers, food, music, small business support, and community connection all wrapped up in this weekend vintage walk. Visit Casita Tacoma on Instagram for more details and a list of lots of favorite Tacoma businesses involved. Also, if you can, bring some non-perishable food and some toiletries to help out the Lincoln High School Resource Center.
Image from Downtown: On the Go!
2. Downtown: On the Go - Ride the Bus with THA & HAC
Thursday, March 11th
3 - 4 pm
Via Zoom
Brendan Nelson, President of Hilltop Action Coalition (HAC) and Alyssa Torrez, a Real Estate Development Project Specialist for Tacoma Housing Authority (THA) discuss housing, transit projects, gentrification, and how current Hilltop residents could be impacted. Make sure to register for the virtual bus ride through the event link above.
Image from Job Carr Cabin Museum
3. Craft Saturday - Brain Teaser
Saturday, March 13th
11 am - 1 pm
Job Carr Cabin Museum
2350 N 30th St, Tacoma
Mark your calendar for 2nd Saturdays at Job Carr Cabin Museum! This month’s free craft kit includes everything you’ll need to make brain teaser puzzle. Pick up your kit from the front porch of the cabin and please respect social distancing. Craft Saturdays are designed with kids in mind, and you’ll find instructional videos online if you need help with your activity once you get home.
I like to visit this butterfly magnolia on the West Slope every spring.
4. The First Day of Spring
Saturday, March 20th
This is an event, but there’s no organizer, no itinerary, no cost, and absolutely, positively no Zoom included. This isn’t virtual spring. This is spring. Winter is over, and that’s been a long time coming. We’ve seen the signs for weeks and weeks, leaf buds and flower buds and ferns unfurling. Today, go outside. See what you can see. How many flowers can you find? How many birds are skittering and soaring and hopping and bustling about? Need more direction than that? Okay, visit a park you’ve never been to in Tacoma. Or, if you’ve been to every last park, go to your favorite one. It may be rainy, drizzling, sprinkling, gray, and damp. It may be breezy and blue and bright. It’s spring!
Image from Creative Colloquy
5. Creative Colloquy Writer’s Workshop Series - Paths to Publication: A Cautionary Tale
Thursday, March 25th
7 - 8:30 pm
Via Zoom
We’re so fortunate to have a local literary group organizing events throughout the year to gather writers and literary enthusiasts! This month’s Writer’s Workshop Series features poet, nonfiction writer, and children’s book author Jennifer Preston Chushcoff in a discussion about the experience of self-publishing and traditional publishing. Q&A to follow, and be sure to register through the link above if you plan to attend!
Image from Tacoma Public Library
6. Tacoma 90-Second Newbery Film Festival Showcase
Saturday, March 27th
2 - 3 pm
Online with Tacoma Public Library
Tune in for the best 2021 submissions to Tacoma's 90-Second Newbery Film Festival. This is an all ages event and a fun way to pass 1 hour of a Saturday afternoon! The short films are created by young filmmakers who take on the challenge of telling the entire story of Newbery-winning books in 90 seconds of film. It’s bound to be a wild ride. Do not miss it.
Connect to Tacoma by Volunteering, Donating & Accessing Support
Image from Windermere Abode
7. Sandwiches for Neighbors in Need
Fridays
March 5, 12, 19 & 26
4:30 pm
Windermere Abode
2200 N 30th St, Tacoma
Meet for a physically distanced drop-off in Old Town in the parking lot behind Windermere Abode. Bring your wrapped sandwiches, packaged snacks, and fresh fruit. Recently, there’s been a need for fleece or wool blankets as well. A member of our Abode community will deliver directly to the Tacoma Rescue Mission. Thanks for all your help!
Image from Tacoma Mutual Aid
8. Tacoma Mutual Aid Laundry Day
Saturday, March 6th
Tacoma, WA
Tacoma Mutual Aid is working to support anyone who needs some help accessing laundry services. This free laundry day will provide free laundry services and include transportation to and from laundromats. If you could use the help, send Tacoma Mutual Aid a message and they’ll get you set up. If you’d like to help make this event possible by donating quarters, funds, laundry supplies, or by volunteering your time, you can sign-up to participate on the Volunteer Sign-up form.
Image from the Asia Pacific Cultural Center
9. Asia Pacific Cultural Center - COVID-19 Relief Assistance
Friday, March 19th
10 an - 12 pm
APCC Parking Lot
4851 S Tacoma Way, Tacoma
Pre-register for this drive through/walk-up event by calling 253-383-3900. This if for Pierce County families who could use a hand with groceries due to struggles so many of us experience with changes brought by the pandemic. Maybe you could use the help, or maybe it’s someone you know, so go ahead and spread the word! Make sure to call ahead to be sure you will receive a $100 gift card to a major supermarket.
Connect to Tacoma with Ongoing Opportunities
10. Listen: Inside Abode Podcast - Black History Month Reflection: Navigating a Bi-Racial Identity with Bernadette Ray
Listen-in on a conversation between podcast host Dave Jones and high school Principal Bernadette Ray. They discuss growing up bi-racial in the PNW, the small world of Tacoma, and the upcoming name change of Woodrow Wilson High School (if you don’t know yet, you’ll learn a bit about the woman the school will soon be named for). Find the podcast on the Windermere Abode site, Spotify, Stitcher, iTunes, Google Play, and more. Any by the time you’re seeing this, there will be more episodes out in this local Black History series. Go ahead and subscribe.
Keep in touch about Tacoma life, community, events, homes, and a bit about us.
