Breakfast with Santa!!

Peninsula residents can create a new family tradition with loads of happy memories by attending the first annual Breakfast With Santa hosted in cooperation by PenMet Parks District and Peninsula Athletic Association.  The event will be held on December 4 from 9am to 11am at the Boys & Girls Club located at 8502 Skansie Ave., Gig Harbor.  Gig Harbor Kiwanis Club has agreed to provide a yummy and filling hot pancake breakfast. 

The cost is just $5 per person for those who pre-register it includes pancake breakfast, holiday arts and crafts, music, and a professional photo of your family with Santa Claus.  Kids will also have the opportunity to tell Santa all their secret wishes for Christmas – no need to cross the bridge and go to the mall for that anymore!  Please pre-register on-line at www.penmetparks.org or go to the website on other ways to register. Cost is $7 per person when registering at the door.

Action Photos Northwest will be the professional photographer on hand at the event and in addition to the free 4x6 photo each family (or individual child) will receive; they will offer additional packages for optional purchase.

The PenMet Parks recreation program operates year-round with classes, camps, and sports leagues.  Visit www.PenMetParks.org to register.

For more information about this event or other recreational programs at PenMet Parks, please contact Gretchen Hayes at PenMet Parks at 253.858.3400, extension 227 or via e-mail at ghayes@penmetparks.org.  For more information about PenMet Parks in general, please contact 253-858-3400 or via e-mail at info@penmetparks.org.

Winter in Our Parks

I’ve recently had some surgery and was off work for several weeks.  As part of my recovery, the doctor instructed me to try to walk every day.  The first few days I walked the back streets around my house on Wollochet Bay.  Using the same route that I do my daily run when I am healthy; I walked.  But after only a couple of days I realized what an opportunity I was missing here.  Since, (unlike when I am doing my run before work) I don’t need to be in a hurry to get this over with, I should be using this time to explore beyond my backdoor.

And so I set out on a mission, to explore all of the local parks and enjoy them in their winter coats.

I love our parks in the winter, primarily because they are empty.  It is really exhilarating to be in a park, such as Kopachuck State Park like I was a week ago, and know that I am the only human being there.  Remarkable that.  Why is no one else here enjoying this solitude?  Granted, I did several times feel a little “bear-phobia” after recent local events…  but that only added to the excitement of my excursion.

So for this month’s column, I thought I would share some of my observations about the parks I visited these past few weeks and encourage my readers to get out and see how great our local parks can be during the winter months;

The Harborview Drive Water Main Construction is Complete

Welcome Back to Downtown Gig Harbor

Special Guest Blog by Mayor Hunter

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their patience since August, while the City has worked to replace 5,000 lineal feet of existing cement asbestos water line along Harborview Drive in downtown Gig harbor. This 40 to 50 year old critical piece of infrastructure carries not only our drinking water but all-important fire flow that provides for public safety. In the past few years the line has ruptured numerous times causing damage to adjoining properties, disruptions in service and expensive repairs paid for by our tax payers.

It's Just Not Christmas Without Gig Harbor Beach Basket Christmas Shop

See it again for the first time!

When I was a little girl growing up in Silverdale, it was a big excursion to go school shopping or Christmas shopping at the Tacoma Mall.  I remember these outings fondly - well into my high school years.

But I remember one holiday shopping trip in particular, because Mom wanted to stop in Gig Harbor on the way to the mall to visit a new shop she had heard so much about, The Beach Basket.  I don't know for sure but I estimate this had to have been about 1971 or maybe '72...I was eleven or twelve years old.

That day I made a purchase of a tiny ceramic tea set.  It was harvest gold with owls on it.  My mother was in an owl phase at the time, and I remember falling in love with it at The Beach Basket.  It was $7.00 - nearly my entire budget for shopping for my entire family! But I had to buy that for my mom, and I will remember it alway because, that tea set now sits in my china cabinet in my dining room.

When I moved to Gig Harbor 18 years ago these memories came flooding back to me when I realized that The Beach Basket and now Christmas Shop, were still operating and serving their loyal customers.  In fact, now in its 41st year, this family owned and operated business continues the tradition of customer service and memorable merchandise that first enchanted me and my mother so long ago.

HAVE YOU HEARD WHATS ON THE WAY?

Wintertime means snow!

Just a quick reminder that winter is just around the corner! Are you ready?

Snow can be beautiful and fun at first, but slippery roads and sidewalks and days of disruption can hit you and your pocket book hard. We want to help you be prepared for the potential of a snowy winter.

The Weather Outside is Frightful

(So Let's Party!)

Thanksgiving

Special Blog Feature
by Laureen Lund

I hear so much negative news anymore. From negative (and nasty) political ads to helpless and downtrodden businesses and individuals trying to survive a desperate economy.

Yep, times they have been better, no one denies it. But times have been worse, whether you can remember those days or not. Despite everything, Americans are pretty darn lucky. And I will stop and give thanks this Thanksgiving for many, many wonderful things that I have in my life. From basic essentials to health and happiness – I am blessed.