By Marianne Lincoln

Pierce County has committed money to making Parkland and Spanaway a wellness experiment. The event on Saturday, September 9 at the Marymount Events Center was to celebrate their project being operational. With Executive Director Tono Sablan at the helm of the project, and a full compliment of staff on board, the group is ready with marketing materials and idea to bring to the community to make it happier and live longer. Blue Zones of Parkland Spanaway is off and running.

Blue Zones began with a National Geographic study of place in the world where centenarians are most common. They studies lifestyles and food consumption and found a combination of factors in those populations that helped contain stress, provided good nutrition and a positive environment. On September 6, Netflix even released a documentary called Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones. If you do not have Netflix, the group plans to have a private showing, October 13, 2023 at 6:00 p.m. at PLU’s Eastvold Auditorium, Seating is limited, so you must R.S.V.P.

After time milling though booths set up to explain various parts of the project, guests were directed to get cards stamped and placed in a bucket for a drawing later in the evening. Dinner was a vegan lasagna with salad, roll and vegetables and a chocolate cupcake for dessert.

Speakers included the Executive Director, Tono Sablan, the Pierce County Executive, Bruce Dammeier, Councilman Marty Campbell, CEO of Multicare, William Robertson, a representative from Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Kim Moore, and a visitor from the National Blue Zones Project, Dan Buettner, Jr., Blue Zones Executive Vice President.

From the Project book, “80% of a person’s lifespan is determined by lifestyle choices and environmental factors. According to the Danish Twins Study, only 20% is genetic,” The project emphasizes physical activity, eating wisely, surrounding yourself with people who make you happy and support healthy behaviors, and having downtime to be calm.

The Blue Zones Project has a Facebook page as well.

For fun, I will finish with a photo of myself and Julie Collison from the photo booth at the event. I hope they can bring it to other events!