By Marianne Lincoln
The Pierce Prairie Post was founded in 2012. Our WordPress Blog site opened on August 14. The name originally was going to be just Prairie Post, until my friend Karen Ansteth insisted I should include the location. So, now it is a bit of a tongue twister, like Peter Piper read a page of the Pierce Prairie Post.
With friends from Norway visiting and my cousin’s birthday to celebrate, I ended up having an island day on Vashon. Without my computer and a good wifi signal, an anniversary post had to wait. The minute I got to the island the peacefulness was striking. Living on the mainland has become so harried by crime, fire, crazy drivers, car crashes, and just noise of all kinds. The island was quiet, serene with lush trees and bushes everywhere. We don’t realize until we visit a place like this, how we have destroyed our solitude in urban areas.
After returning to the real world at Point Defiance, we were greeted by a car and grass fire at Pearl and Hwy 16. Then, after visiting the Desserts on the Drive that Lakewood Kiwanis put on at Springbrook Park, I stopped by the Parkland Community Center and watched a couple kids high on adrenaline and possibly other things, doing figure eights in our parking lot. Thankfully, they didn’t hit the building while drifting, but the burning rubber stinks, the noise is awful, and when they turned back onto the road, they were still not driving safely heading south on C Street. That was 8:30 p.m. I had to check to see if the rollover at 116th was them. It was not. But seriously, can we get a handle on this insanity? Now the re-paving on Pacific Avenue is coming to make traffic even worse. Will they EVER put a new through road around here? Government still thinks we want buses instead.
The Pierce Prairie Post generally doesn’t talk about the car crashes, the shootings, or the crazy, sad and scary stuff that happens in our neighborhoods. The big news media gobbles up that stuff regularly. The PPP would rather get you the news they forget to provide. New like the Pierce County Fair is on and you have today and Sunday still to go visit. Touch a Truck is coming soon. A new mural is about to be created on Pacific Avenue at 145th Street and Pacific Avenue with the Blue Zones new theme for Spanaway called, Roots Run Deep. That is based on the history of the camas flower on our former prairie now covered in fir trees.
Thank you to everyone who has donated to the PPP this year. This has not been an easy one, someday I will tell the story of how difficult those in power sometimes can make for those trying to do the good things. There are times we must look the evil and wrongdoing in the eye and say no, even at our own peril. We shall overcome when we have our friends with us, do remember this.
Keep doing the good things. Keep taking your spouse, besties, and kids out to do the fun stuff. Attend the fairs, car shows, farmer’s markets, and dog shows. Find those kids better ways to entertain themselves than putting the rest of us at risk on the road. Help -good – win. Normally, I would say light a candle, but we are tinder dry, on a stage 2 burn ban, so please, no fire. Say a prayer or two for the east side where they are struggling with fires and pray it doesn’t happen here, because it could.
For our anniversary, the PPP introduced Barry the Barred Owl this week along with an updated masthead. You will see Barry when the PPP is out at resource fairs from now on. Our table seemed so bare at Keithly last week, it was obvious we needed something more for kids visiting us. Watch for Barry soon!
Have a great finish to your summer. Bethel schools are starting August 31 and Franklin Pierce on September 1. Go Patriots, Cardinals, Bison, Sentinels, and Eagles! The new Bethel High School opens this year, ribbon cutting is August 21, at 1 p.m. The Washington State Fair is September 4-27, 2026 in Puyallup. So many good things to do. Go have safe, fun!
Our new look:
