Spring has sprung.
Our boys of summer, the Tacoma
Rainier’s, are playing ball at Cheney
Stadium. The bikers are out in full
force. Wright Park is abuzz with hula hooping, picnickers, and lawn games
galore. This next week the Broadway Farmer’s Market will begin populating
downtown with local food growers, entertainers, artisans, and food trucks.
I am moving from dark beers to the paler side of brew - all signs of
spring in Tacoma.
Speaking of food trucks – the City of Tacoma’s pilot Food Truck Fridays will hold their
ribbon cutting this Friday May 1st at 10 am near Urban Grace church
on 9th and Market Street. According to initial plans the trucks will
be at the 9th and Market location the first and third Friday of the
month for breakfast and lunch and the second and fourth Friday of the month at
Tollefson Plaza for just lunch. The trucks will also be at two Ruston Way
locations on Saturday and Sundays for lunch and dinner. Read more here at Exit
133: http://www.exit133.com/articles/view/coming-soon-food-truck-fridays-and-saturdays-and-sundays-too-in-tacoma#.VT5kdLXn-M8
Spring is the season of blooming - a time when that which has lain dormant
in the winter comes to life. So, it is that the BIA Blog has a new addition.
Beginning with this post and continuing on for the foreseeable future, I’ll be
posting roughly twice a week with short pieces reflecting on the residential,
civic, business, and cultural goings on
in downtown Tacoma.
Who am I? Good question.
My name is Tad Monroe. I have lived in Tacoma for 22 years, except for a
short moment of insanity, when I
moved to Seattle for about a year and a half. I quickly came to my senses and returned
home.
My undergraduate studies at Pacific Lutheran University brought me to
Tacoma and the community and quality of life is what has kept me here. I have
lived and worked in the North End, Hilltop, and Downtown neighborhoods of
Tacoma and currently reside in the Stadium District.
My vocational life in Tacoma has consisted of being a pastor at two
congregations: Trinity Presbyterian Church and Urban Grace. I have also worked
extensively in the non-profit community in Tacoma, in higher education, and as
a community organizer and consultant. I have been a volunteer and board member
for many organizations and an arts advocate and programmer.
I do a bit of freelance writing, write prose and poetry, and co-produce
Tacoma’s Drunken Telegraph – Live Storytelling. Currently, I work as an
Organizational Development Consultant for Habit for Humanity International,
where my work focuses on consulting around organizational capacity, community
development, and neighborhood revitalization.
I am looking forward to celebrating, exploring, and discussing downtown
life in Tacoma in the coming months. I have and continue to spend a great deal
of time working and playing in downtown and I believe a thriving city center,
that is deeply connected to the other neighborhoods of Tacoma, is key to
maximizing our quality of life in the city as a whole.
In honor of National Poetry Month (April) ending this week and the
beginning of what I hope will be a successful and sustainable effort to bring
food trucks to enhance the cultural and economic life of downtown– I leave us
with the first stanza from Czeslaw Milosz’s poem In Common.
What is good? Garlic. A leg of lamb on a spit. Wine with a view of boats
rocking in a cove. A starry sky in August. A rest on a mountain peak.
See you Friday for some good food and I look forward to
exploring what is good, and what can
be good, in downtown Tacoma.
