By Marianne Lincoln The greater Graham area needs a history museum. A barn would be the perfect venue, particularly an older style barn. Local historical buffs could organize a grant writing campaign and some funding mechanisms the same way that the community in Parkland saved the historic Parkland School. There are more than enough stories,…
Category: Kapowsin
A huge reunion and a Braves love fest
It was called the Bethel High School All Classes Reunion on July 12, 2025. It was open to all the classes that knew themselves as Bethel Braves. It was also open to the most recent classes since the July 2021 state ban on Native American mascots, now called Bison. But the event was far and…
Input sought on Puyallup Watershed Conservation Land Trust
A Community Advisory Team of subject-matter experts has been convened to help implement a community outreach and engagement plan for a community forest project in the Upper Puyallup River Watershed. This project is aimed at creating a community forest that is managed and owned on behalf of local communities in the Upper Puyallup Watershed, to…
Graham needs a museum
Editorial: Marianne Lincoln Although it is one of the area’s newer communities, being started in 1923 with the Harding Mill, the greater Graham community, including Kapowsin is much older. As author Lawrence D. “Andy” Anderson so magnificently displays in his book, In the Shadow of the Mountain (out of print), the area had many activities…
Bethel Athletes of the past, did you know you can be nominated for the BSD Hall of Fame?
By Marianne Lincoln Graham-Kapowsin, Bethel or Spanaway Lake, if you were a star athlete in your high school years, you could be nominated for the Bethel School District Athletic Hall of Fame. Bob Niehl, Bethel Class of 1970, State Champion Basketball Team and son of Ed Niehl (who is over 100 and still with us)…
Start your New Year at Graham Senior Center
Retirement is not a good time to hide out in your home. Every human needs and deserves a little social time with good friends old and new. It has been shown to actually increase your life span. If you are in Graham, Thrift, Kapowsin, or Benston, here is a suggestion. Carol Wright of the Graham…
304th to be closed for bridge work near Benston Hall, July 20-21
Pierce County Planning and Public Works has scheduled a bridge closure for resurfacing on Saturday and Sunday, July 20-21, from 8 AM to 8 PM. Travelers should be aware that the road will be closed during this period and detours will be in place. The closure is near the Benston Hall, between the Mountain Highway…
A road called Muck-Kapowsin
By Marianne Lincoln It all started with Muck-Kapowsin Road. It isn’t called that anymore, it has a number like most other roads in Pierce County. It is now 224th Street. It runs from Elk Plain at the Mountain Highway through Graham and Thrift and on to a housing development called “The Country.” Roads in the…
Graham Historical Society, Feb. 28
By Marianne Lincoln Graham has history, lots of history, actually. You can find some of it on page F-10 of the Graham Community Plan. Other bits and pieces are in small books and hard to find, out-of-print books like In the Shadow of the Mountain, by Andy Anderson. Others have not yet been written, but…
Essential Public Facilities, dangerous words – Do you want to build a giant airport?
[Editor: this is a recap of the anti-airport meeting 1-13-23] It was a brief moment in the meeting about a major international airport being considered in South Pierce County. It was the moment when people asked, “How in the world did they approve ‘the dump?’” The answer, given by former Senator Rasmussen was 3 words,…
Farms to commercial airports? Graham meeting Jan. 13
The Coalition Against Graham and Eatonville-Roy Airports will be holding a meeting at Graham Kapowsin High School on Friday, January 13, 2023 for the public to come hear about and hopefully express their feeling about the two sites (of 3) that the Washington State Legislatures Commercial Aviation Coordinating Commission (CACC) has selected as potential sites…
Graham-Kapowsin Community Council Senior Center opens June 28
From Council District #3 news: The Graham-Kapowsin Community Council Senior Center is holding an opening ceremony Tuesday (June 28) at 10:15 a.m. Join the opening in Room B at the Frontier Park Lodge, 21718 Meridian Ave. E. in Graham. If you plan to have lunch at the center, please RSVP: 253-921-2914. The center will be open…
OK Hwy Closure at 252nd Street E
Orting-Kapowsin Highway East will be closed south of 252nd Street East July 31 to mid-August Orting-Kapowsin Highway East will be closed about 400 feet south of 252nd Street East from July 31 to mid-August while a box culvert is replaced. The work is part of a larger project that will run from July 27 to…
2020 Graduations were a successful change of pace
By Marianne Lincoln COVID-19 has changed everything in the way people interact and celebrate in 2020. School closings didn’t stop our very determined class of 2020 from celebrating graduation from high school. With cars, boats, limousines and trucks, the Class of 2020 spruced up, painted, embellished and honked their way through a graduation ceremony that…
2020 Graduations on the road in June
2020 graduation at Bethel area high schools may affect traffic in some areas. Although schools have gone to great lengths to direct traffic into parking lots, it still may be best to avoid the areas if you are not participating in the graduation. Graduation at Challenger High is Monday June 15, 2020. The graduation is…
FREE MEALS AVAILABLE AT 10 BETHEL SCHOOLS
Este mensaje en español From BETHEL SCHOOLS — Starting Tuesday, March 17, free meals will be available to ANYONE ages 1-18 through the end of the statewide school closure. These “grab and go” meals will include both lunch and breakfast for the following morning. We’ll be utilizing “curbside pick-up” to maintain social distancing, so you…
EXPO at Frontier Park March 7
The Graham Kapowsin Community Council will hold its 17th Annual Home & Garden EXPO on Saturday, March 7, 2020 at Frontier Park in Graham from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Frontier Park is located at 21718 Meridian East, Graham, WA. GKCC benefits the local food bank and other services in the community. You can find…
WRITE to your County Council
3 p.m. in the afternoon on Tuesdays is the regular meeting time of the Pierce County Council. Most of us at working at that time of day or are stuck in traffic and cannot be in downtown Tacoma a the Council Office even when we seriously want to complain about an action they are taking….
New Rotary Chapter Forming – Jan. 25
The local Rotary Club is forming a new chapter for Graham Frederickson and Eatonville. GFE Rotary will help local businesses address issues facing their business and others and help them support their surrounding communities. The event will be held at Frontier Park Lodge, Saturday, January 25, starting at 6 pm. The cost is $15 for…
Graham Vendor Opportunity at EXPO
The Graham-Kapowsin Community Council’s (GKCC) 17th annual fundraiser, Graham Home & Garden EXPO is Saturday, March 7, 2020 from 10-4 pm at Frontier Park Lodge (21718 Meridian E, Graham, WA). We are looking for vendors, shoppers, fun run/walk participants, and sponsors to help raise money for this worthwhile cause. All of the money raised for…