As we often do, dear daughter and I attended First Night to usher in the new year. And her friend, Z, came with us as she so often does. It was extra cold, but not raining, so we were happy and did all of our normal First Night things. This year we were offered long wooden sticks and a S’More packet (two marshmallows, a chocolate square and two graham crackers). It was such gooey sticky fun to make our own.
First Night 2014 Tacoma was a joy! One of the Live Spectacles was this year’s World Record Attempt, the Largest Gathering of Brides Blowing Bubbles at One Time! We also watched the opening parade, Stephanie Jackson (love her), Uncle Bonsai (every year we go) and strolled the entire length of the event several times. We caught the link to Freighthouse Square and made it back home in time to bang some pots and pans (sorry neighbor people!).
Happy New Year. Dear daughter, her friend and I went downtown to First Night to ring in 2013. The theme is the Year of the Snake and the unofficial mascot seems to be Quetzalcoatl, which is cool since I had just checked out Tacoma’s Quetzalcoatl art in November. http://blog.firsttries.com/quetzalcoatl-mask/
LeRoy Jewelers had a wonderful Quetzalcoatl Mask in their store window. at 940 Broadway and they were welcoming people in from the cold for First Night. Besides wonderful jewelry, they offer arts and crafts in their Art Shop. It is always a pleasure to see their wares.
The site for the building had originally been occupied the Far West Lodging House, which was demolished. By 1928 the Metropolitan Chain Stores, Inc. was in place and then in 1961 it was the Lundquist Lilly Men’s Wear, which closed in 1968. LeRoy Jewelers moved into the building in 1970 and the clock on the sidewalk was installed in 1988. LeRoy means king in french.
As we usually do, dear daughter and I celebrated New Year’s Eve at Tacoma’s First Night in Downtown Tacoma. We drove to the Dome Transit Center and caught the Link to the theater district and then we kicked up our heals! It is really a top notch event. The weather was cold, but not frigid and there was no rain (a small miracle). I ran into a bunch of folks that I knew, but dear daughter seemed to know almost everybody! She declared that her schoolmates owned the downtown domain!
The new place for the day is the Pythian Temple at 924-926 1/2 Broadway, Tacoma. The building was constructed in 1906 for the Commencement Lodge No. 7 of the Knights of the Pythias. On August 23, 1985, Pythian Temple was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The meeting room is upstairs and is amazing, with dark carved woods and lovely frescoes and a huge organ.
For more on the Temple, including some historic photos, go to here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythian_Temple_%28Tacoma,_Washington%29
This is my sixth building that was designed by Frederick Heath, architect and named after the 25th President of the United States, William McKinley. The others are:
http://blog.firsttries.com/?p=2012 Oakland School
http://blog.firsttries.com/?p=1961 Urban Grace
http://blog.firsttries.com/?p=1335 Titlow Lodge
http://blog.firsttries.com/?p=2370 Tacoma Public School’s CAB
http://blog.firsttries.com/?p=2374 McKinley School
Heavy, warm coat – check
Hat – check
Gloves – check
Scarf – check
Camera – check
Daughter + Friend – check
First Night Tickets – not yet, but I’ll get them there
Today’s new place will be First Night 2010/2011, but I won’t get around to posting new photos until tomorrow. Happy New Year everybody!
