CITY MANAGER'S INFOBULLETS: Sounder Train, Senior Center and Day of Caring

• Farmers Market a Success:   Tuesday, September 18, marked the finale of what was a very successful market season for the City of Lakewood.  The project, which started out as a pilot program to test the feasibility of holding a Farmers Market in Lakewood, turned out to be the first of many market seasons to come for the community. With 24 vendors and an estimated 500 shoppers on opening day, the market got bigger and bigger as the season continued, and was so successful the City extended its run for three additional weeks.  By the end of the season the market had featured over 50 different vendors

• Senior Center commemorates 9/11:   The Lakewood Senior Activity Center’s 9/11 Remembrance event occurred on the afternoon of Tuesday September 11th.  The well-received event provided an opportunity for the older adults in this community to feel connected with the rest of the country as all joined together to remember the events of 9/11/01, and to honor those who gave their lives that day. Elizabeth Scheid, recreation coordinator, started off the event with an appropriate speech, the national anthem was sung, and some poignant quotes about some of the 9/11 heroes were read. Three Lakewood Fire Fighters arrived to visit, and posed for pictures and conversed with the other guests.

• Health director visits City Hall:  Dr. Anthony Chen, the director of the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, met with the mayor and city manager on September 21st to discuss community health issues.  The discussion included water quality at several lakes in the city, the DOE soil clean-up project at Kiwanis Park and American Lake Park, and also mental health issues.

• Day of Caring: Eleven City employees contributed their time and effort on September 21st to assist with the United Way’s “Day of Caring” volunteer program to assist community agencies in need.

• Sounder Train Service Begins October 8:  Sound Transit announced that train service will begin in Lakewood on October 8th. The public is invited to a ribbon-cutting event and free ride on Saturday, October 6th.  For more info, visit http://www.soundtransit.org/Rider-Community/Rider-news/Lakewood-South-Tacoma-Sounder-Service.xml.

- Andrew Neiditz, City of Lakewood