On Saturday, October 25th, giant 800-pound pumpkins made into boats will race across the Lake at Tualatin Commons. These pumpkin boats will compete in an exciting series of heats across the lake. You have to see it to believe it!

For more information (pdf)

Here's what's going on in Washington County, Oregon this weekend...

City of Tigard's FamilyFest

Tigard Public Library, City Hall & Jim Griffith Memorial Skate Park

Saturday September 13, Various Times

Details:

Saturday, September 13, the fun begins at 9 AM with a 5K Run/Walk & Breakfast. Start at City Hall - runners and walkers of all ages and abilities are encouraged to participate. Free T-shirts to the first 200 participants! Baby strollers and well-behaved dogs on leashes are welcome. At the finish line, enjoy a free breakfast with all the fixins! We'll provide a ride back to City Hall. Join the Treasure Hunt (1 PM) and follow the clues that will lead you through downtown Tigard and the WES Commuter Rail. Work with a partner - or a posse - and win some great prizes! Pack a blanket and picnic dinner (5:30 PM) and head for the lawn behind the Tigard Library. We'll be serving up free cake and ice cream (6 PM) to celebrate the City of Tigard's 47th birthday. The Sister City Pavilion Dedication will be at 6:30 PM followed by Magician Tom Waldrop (7:15 PM). Enjoy a Concert (7:30 PM) by the Tualatin Valley Community Band and the Fireworks Show (8 PM) at the library commons. Round out your evening with a Night Skate (8 - 9:15 PM). Grab your skate board and head to the Jim Griffith Memorial Sake Park to skate with neon lights and a disco ball!

 

Aaron Meyer Concert 

Cooper Mountain Vineyard

Saturday September 13, 4 - 7 p.m.

Details:

On the eve of our harvest join us as internationally acclaimed rock violinist Aaron Meyer puts on a concert in the vineyard. Admission: $15, includes logo glass and glass of wine.

Beaverton's Celebration Parade

Downtown Beaverton

Saturday September 13, 10 a.m.

Details: Mark your calendar and plan to join in this citywide celebration.  The theme for this year's parade is "Community Pride ... City Wide".  The parade winds its way through downtown Beaverton beginning at 10 AM.   Grand Marshal is the Roloff Family, stars of television's "Little People, Big World", and guest of honor for the event is retiring Police Chief David Bishop.  Award-winning high school marching bands include Aloha, Beaverton, Southridge, Sunset and Westview.  There'll be hilarious mascots, themed floats, antique vehicles, merry pranksters and so much more!  Enter to win a parade of prizes -- gift certificates from great Beaverton Area businesses.

School's In! Paddle Trip

99W Bridge, Tualatin

Saturday September 13, 10 a.m.

Details:

Explore the Tualatin River from the 99W bridge with the riverkeepers as your guide.  Tualatin Riverkeepers (TRK) trips are open to all members and the general public. Space is limited and reservations are required. Alcohol is not permitted on trips and personal flotation devices must be worn.

There is a trip charge of $5 per person for TRK members and $10 for non-members. Canoes are available to members free of charge by reservation, Non-members may rent canoes for our paddle trips for $30. Annual memberships start at $35.

Trips may be canceled due to weather conditions. Trip leaders are volunteers, and are not compensated for the time and energy that they put in to making our Trips & Tours program successful. Trips may be canceled if we are unable to recruit sufficient volunteer support to lead a safe and enjoyable trip.

 

Hillsboro Glass, Pottery, & More, Show & Sale

Washington County Fair Complex

Saturday September 13 & Sunday September 14

Details: The Pacific Northwest Fenton Association presents the 5^th Annual Hillsboro Glass, Pottery & More Show & Sale in the Main Exhibit Hall at the Washington County Fair Complex.Come discover the fun of a treasure hunt.The show and sales features vintage items to modern collectibles along with home decor.We are econ-friendly by recycling items from our past. There will also be glass repair services and antique reference books.A food concession will be on site and there's an ATM available.

 

For additional details on these events, or other Washington County events, please visit our Events Calendar.

If you're anything like me, you wait until the last possible second to make weekend plans. Lucky for both of us, the Washington County Visitors Association has got you covered.

Here are some fun events going on this weekend in our neck of the woods...

Salsa Contest (no silly, not the dance! the food!) at the Hillsboro Farmers' Market. Here's what you need to know: Bring your homemade salsa to the market on Saturday, August 23, and Sunday, August 24, no later than 9:30.  We recommend that if you are making it fresh, use products that you have purchased from the market.  This is not required, but it is a good way to support the market.  Please bring approximately 1 quart of salsa for us to use.

BTS@BPV - Ah! The kids these days and their lingo. For the over 30 crowd, that's Back to School at Bridgeport Village. Here's the Scoop: Go to participating stores, find a Key Word, text it in to 81530 and you'll immediately be entered to win one of 8 grand prizes plus you'll receive a reply with an offer from one of our participating stores each time!

Bug Fest 2008 - Drop into Tualatin Hills Nature Park & Interpretive Center on Saturday, August 23, for a day that highlights all those tiny critters (such as beetles, butterflies, bees, slugs and spiders.  These little creatures help recycle fallen trees, pollinate flowers and provide food to larger animals.  Games, displays, live bugs, Bug Lab, crafts and guided activities offer fun for the whole family.  This year's Bug Lab will focus on spiders and their kin.  You can even bring in a bug to be identified by an expert!

Summer Concert Series at SakeOne - Enjoy SakeOne's beautiful lawn and delicious Saketini's while listening to Stephanie Schneiderman of Dirty Martini & Keith Schreiner of Dahlia. Be sure to pack a picnic dinner!


There, that should give you some ideas! GO! Have fun, and be sure to let us know of anything I missed!



For more, Washington County Events, visit our Events Calendar

 

 

I was thrilled to find that my favorite Portland band, The Dimes would be playing in Bridgeport Village's Summer Concert Series on July 31st. The weather turned out to be perfect for an outdoor concert that day, so I rallied some friends and off we went. Concerts are held in Bridgeport's Center Court, right next to the play structure. We settled in the wine garden, where our very own Oak Knoll Winery was pouring their delicious wines. We were happy to sip cool Pinot Gris while listening to The Dimes.

The Dimes have been described as, "Reminiscent of groups like Death Cab for Cute..." I just describe them as amazing, and I think you'll agree. The guys are fun to watch and it's clear that they love what they're doing. I was excited to see them play my favorite songs Catch Me Jumping and Stacked Brown Boxes.  

For more information on The Dimes, visit their website. And, more more fun summer events, visit the WCVA's Event Calendar.

   

By Julia

So, as is clear from my absence on this blog, I've been really busy the last few weeks. The sun came out, and my energy level automatically kicked itself up from "snail" to "cheetah." Well, maybe not quite cheetah, but at least up to a respectably speedy animal pace. Anyway, now I have to catch up on everything I've been doing. I'll try to be brief!

Back on Friday, June 27 I was lucky enough to attend the premiere of The Broadway Rose Theatre Company's production of Les Miserables. Now while the Deb Fennell Auditorium at Tigard High is far from the madding crowd in Times Square, the performance was more than respectable, and even I, jaded art school graduate that I am, shed a tear when poor little Gavroche, played by utterly charming 5th-grader Alex Thede, met his end. The theatre's summer season runs through August, so be sure to catch one of their upcoming performances.

Rhiannon already covered our participation in the LIVESTRONG Challenge, which was a great event, so I can skip over that. In keeping with our active theme, we've taken up golf lessons. Meriwether National Golf Club offers a great "Ladies Learn to Golf" program, so after years of running my mouth about how much I wanted to learn to play, I'm finally doing it. AND...our pro, Tom Carey, just qualified for the U.S. Senior Open, being held next week in Colorado! That means I'm learning from an expert!!! My dad's going to so regret that he never took me to the driving range, because now that I've got such a great teacher, I'm going to kick butt when we play!

The weekend before last was The Main Course in Forest Grove, which was fantastic. They closed down Main Street and a whole bunch of local wineries set up tables and tents and did a two-hour tasting session which was accompanied by delicious appetizers from Andina, Portland's highly touted Peruvian restaurant. Believe you me, we sampled all of the tasty bites multiple times - quality assurance, right? It was so hot that we stuck with mostly white wines, and by the time 7pm rolled around we had tried most of the wines on our "must-sip" list. We had double-booked, so instead of sticking around for the al fresco dinner (which I hear was wonderful!) we bounced over to SakeOne to check out their summer concert series. Between the fabulous tunes by Jonah and the tasty tartness of the Lavender Lemonade Saketinis, I could have stayed there all weekend. Alas, the music ended, but we were still in fine form, so we proceeded to McMenamins Grand Lodge where we sat outside at the Yardhouse Pub and had a relaxing and much-needed dinner. What a truly perfect day - it was a great reminder of why I moved to Oregon in the first place!

For the second year in a row, the Washington County Visitors Association (that's us!) had the opportunity to participate in the LIVESTRONG Challenge. We had a booth in the Tiger Woods Center on Saturday during packet pick-up where we handed out Washington County Maps and Visitor Guides to our out of town guests.

On Sunday, Julia and I got up EARLY and headed to the Nike Campus to do the 5K Run/Walk. Now, if you're from here. You know that it was ridiculously hot this weekend - so we opted to walk.

 

Before we took off on our walk, we heard a little bit from Lance - thanking the 3,000 participants for getting up early to fight such an important cause.

Can you believe these guys and gals are about to bike 100 miles throughout Washington County?

 

We walked with families, babies in strollers, even someone in a wheelchair. Along the route, there were bikers riding PediCabs with patients from Doernbecher Children's Hospital in the back.  We crossed the finish line at about the 51 minute mark, along with a 3 year old little boy, who crossed the Survivor's Finish Line with his dad. It was truly a moving moment. We watched him get his yellow rose and then have water dumped all over his head by his mom.

Success! Rhiannon and Julia Post-Race

 After the race, we walked through the Misting Tent sponsored by Embassy Suites and enjoyed a celebratory beer. We had a great time and both plan on doing it again next year (Right, Julia?)