Twelfth month, darkest day, longest night, strangest year many of us will ever remember. Day, by day, by day we’ve been stepping through it, and now we’re here in the season of celebration and we’re sorting through guidelines and worries and hopes and wondering about how to do, or how not to do the things we’ve always done. Those decisions are yours. We hope you make them with patience for yourself, and consideration for others. What we can offer you is this list of ways to find connection with the city we call home in a month that can be purposeful and peaceful, but is so often altogether too much. In the spirit of “not too much” we’re keeping this list on the shorter side. We hope you’ll delve in a little and find something that fits.
Connect to Tacoma with Events & Gatherings
Image from Handmade PNW & Village 253
1. Handmade Market & Mingle with Handmade PNW & Village 253
It’s a holiday market, it’s a Feed253 fundraiser, it’s a party! Meet and support local creative small business owners while you find a special gift to give this season.
Friday, December 4th
Handmade Market & Mingle Zoom Party & Online Market
Image from Tacoma Farmers Market
2. Winter Market at Point Ruston with Tacoma Farmers Market
Connect to Tacoma’s food community by meeting and supporting the people who manage small farms, local food vendors, and crafts people as well. Come with or without a list, go home with something fresh, something handmade, maybe even something festive.
Sundays, December 6th & 13th
Winter Markets at Point Ruston
Image from Hilltop Action Coalition
3. Hilltop Action Coalition’s Hilltop Holiday Crawl
Support all your favorite Hilltop small businesses, complete your Holiday Crawl passport to win raffle prizes, and vote for your favorite decorated storefront. Plus, you can stop by the Hilltop Action Coalition for sanitizer, your passport, fun supplies, and masks.
Monday, December 14th - Sunday, December 20th
Hilltop Holiday Crawl - and visit www.hilltopcrawl.com
4. Molly’s Tamales Cooking Classes & Private Events
Images from Molly’s Tamales
Connect to the Tacoma community with food. Join online cooking classes from the comfort of your kitchen, or get in touch with Molly about scheduling a private cooking class for a small group. Food truly brings us together, and even if the people you’re cooking with are on the screen instead of right beside you, the power is still there. Molly is offering an array of cooking classes throughout the month including one on New Year’s Eve for youth. Be sure to follow her to keep up with all the opportunities.
Molly’s Tamales Cooking School - Upcoming Events
Saturday, December 12th
Let’s Make Mole
Sunday, December 13th
Cornish Game Hens in Rose Petal Sauce
Saturday, December 19th
Let’s Make Ceviche
Thursday, December 31st
Let’s Make Sushi Youth Class
5. The Nutcracker & the Tale of the Hard Nut Holiday Watch Party with Tacoma City Ballet Orchestra
For some, an annual trip to the ballet to see The Nutcracker is a holiday tradition. It hurts a bit to anticipate all the changes to traditions this year. The Tacoma City Ballet invites you to keep this tradition alive by joining them from home to enjoy the dancing and the magic of the story. You can still get dressed up in your winter best. Or let this be the year you watch the show in your favorite pajamas with a cup of hot cocoa in hand. If the Nutcracker ballet is something you’ve never experienced, something you’re not sure about, it’s easy to give this a try and see what it’s all about.
Thursday, December 17th
The Nutcracker & The Tale of the Hard Nut Watch Party!
6. Celebrate Winter Solstice
Monday, December 21st
Shortest day, longest night. Many years on the Winter Solstice Tacoma offers events to celebrate from dark beers at The RedHot in celebration of the darkest day to an annual counting of the birds with Tahoma Audubon. You’re welcome to search for an event this year, if you’d like. But how about creating your own celebration? Maybe get up early and look to the east for the sunrise. If you can’t see it from home, bundle up, pour some coffee in a thermos, and drive to a view point. You could take an end-of-daylight walk with a friend to welcome the longest night. Or stay home and light candles, burn something bright, sip something warm, hug someone tight - a person, a dog, your own self - whoever you’ve got. If you haven’t made swags, or brought evergreen branches inside yet, now is the perfect day. Welcome the winter with the scent of the woods, the shine of some light.
Images from Write 253
7. Connect to Youth Poetry & Connect Youth to Poetry with Write 253
December offers multiple opportunities to engage with, explore, and experience the power of the written and spoken word with Write 253. These afternoon workshops are for poets of all levels ages 13-19. We know young people have things to say!
Monday, December 28th - Thursday, December 31st
Winter Poetry Camp - Youth Workshops
Connect to Tacoma with Ongoing Opportunities
Image from the Puyallup Tribe of Indians Historic Preservation Department
8. We are Puyallup: A Brief History of the Puyallup Tribe by the Puyallup Tribe of Indians Historic Preservation Department
Connecting to Tacoma can mean supporting small businesses, attending festivals, volunteering to clean up parks or make a meal for people who could use one. It also means connecting to the history of the place we call home, and understanding the present too. It means knowing your neighbors. Find time this month to sit and watch this short film created by the Puyallup Tribe of Indians Historic Preservation Department. See where it takes you. Don’t forget the Puyallup People are not just history! As you’ll hear a voice in this film say, “We are the culmination of the resiliency of our ancestors.” The Puyallup People are still here where they’ve been for hundreds upon hundreds of years.
We are Puyallup: A Brief History of the Puyallup Tribe - 14:16 minutes
Image from Windermere Abode
9. The Opposite Side of Thanksgiving | A Conversation with Local Native/Indigenous Leaders from insideABODE
We belong to Windermere Abode (going 3 years strong!) a woman-owned and Black-owned brokerage. As you might guess, this is not the typical representation in real estate ownership. Part of Windermere Abode’s community engagement comes through the Inside Abode podcast. The host and Abode co-owner, Dave Jones, sits down with realtors and community members alike. In November Dave talked with local Native leaders Alicia Mathurin of The Community Market and Pernelle Turnipseed of Two Bears Trading Post. It’s a conversation about understanding Thanksgiving from a Native perspective, as well as about reparations, education, and more. We know Thanksgiving was last month’s holiday, but this kind of conversation is not out of date. Give is a listen. It’s just one more way to connect to and understand our local community.
The Opposite Side of Thanksgiving | A Conversation with Local Native/Indigenous Leaders - 57 minutes
Image from Windermere Abode
10. Support Local Small Businesses with the Abode 2020 Gift Guide (or leave a review - it’s free!)
Supporting small local businesses doesn’t end with Small Business Saturday. Ignore that title and extend local support whenever you consider giving a gift. Each year all of us at Abode get to submit recommendations for places to shop locally around Tacoma and Pierce County. The list is published and presented in time for Small Business Saturday, to give people a place to start if they're looking for gift ideas that support local small businesses, and this year, there are even recommendations for specific items. Browse categories like: gifts that are easy to mail, sustainable/environmentally friendly gifts, gifts for the young and young at heart, and giving the gift of community support.
You know another way to support a small business , a way that’s free and accessible no matter your budget? Write a review for a business you love. Maybe you can’t afford to order a meal for takeout or buy a necklace, but you can give the gift of your voice and your support (if you’re not sure where to leave a review, just ask the business and they’ll be happy to tell you where to go). We all know small businesses can use it, especially this year!
11. Go Outside - Visit a park that’s new to you - Be by the water
Movement, fresh air, light, rain, sounds of water, sounds of wind, sounds of birds. This is a prescription. Go outside to rake some leaves, start off bundled and end up tossing your coat to the side. Go outside to walk down the block. Go outside and drive to a neighborhood you’ve never explored. Go outside and visit a Tacoma park you’ve never visited. There are so many! Some are small and you might wonder why you’re there. Take a minute and look around. Think about someone who might enjoy visiting that park with you, or dream about a picnic with friends. It’s good to look forward to things. Go outside and be by the water. One good thing about Tacoma is you don’t have to own waterfront property to experience the beach. Visit Titlow, or Owen Beach, or Chambers Bay, or Ruston Way, or Sunnyside Beach. Walk or sit or listen or just look. It’s good to go outside; we’re animals, after all.
Visit Metro Parks Tacoma: Places if you need help finding a park.
Connect to Tacoma by Volunteering, Donating & Accessing Services
12. Get to Know United Way of Pierce County
United Way of Pierce County works to break the cycle of poverty in our community. They've been at work here since 1921 (nearly 100 years!) and the works goes on with a bold goal to lift 15,000 families out of poverty by 2028. We want to be part of that, and we imagine you do too. United Way works from sound principles of empowerment, addressing root causes of poverty - not just symptoms. They work with an awareness of racial disparities and with a vision for racial equity. Since root causes can take time to heal and correct, their work also includes addressing basic needs now.
United Way's Mission: "We work from the heart to unite caring people to tackle our community's toughest challenges."
United Way's Cause: "We unite the community to end poverty, one family at a time."
Did you know United Way is also the voice behind the 2-1-1 line? Get Help Now 211 is a vital community resource to connect people to services they need.
Looking for something out there to help you believe change - good change! - is possible? Visit United Way's Stories of Hope page and soak up the transformation.
How Can You Help? From donating funds to in-kind gifts, to volunteer work, to hosting donation drives, to advocating, to simply spreading the word, there are ways upon ways upon ways to support the mission and work of United Way. Here's the list of ways they share on their site:
Volunteer to prepare and serve meals at a community meal site
Advocate for services that are vital to low-income families
Tell people about the services provided by South Sound 211
Hold a donation drive to support children and families in need
Volunteer at a local shelter or during Project Homeless Connect
Keep in touch about Tacoma life, community, events, homes, and a bit about us.
