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Staycations

Spending the summer at home … East Pierce residents can be tourists in their own backyard

Avani Nadkarni

With the unemployment rate in Pierce County at more than 10 percent and government agencies and private companies alike cutting back, many East Pierce residents are reconsidering the traditional summer vacation. “I think families are looking for something that’s wholesome and affordable (and) that’s close by with the economic conditions we’re living in,” Northwest Trek Deputy Director Dave Ellis said. Below are a few ideas to explore for the first time — or give a second glance — right in East Pierce County:

Northwest Trek

Ellis is confident that his wildlife park offers the same breathtaking scenery and animals that one would find at a more famous national park.

“(Families in the area) are often looking for a nature and wildlife experience and maybe otherwise they’d travel all the way to Yellowstone,” Ellis said. “This year, that might not be affordable. Sometimes (exploring the area) can cause you to miss out on the experience of riding in a station wagon or taking a flight, but some see that as a plus.”

Visitors to Northwest Trek can see some of the same wildlife they would find between here and Yellowstone, Ellis said, such as bison, caribou, elk and moose, as well as more predatory animals such as grizzly bears, bobcats, cougars and wolverines.

“We have a huge variety of the native wildlife that lives here in this part of the country (and) we know people value (that) really highly,” he said.

In the past couple of years, Northwest Trek has added the Animal Presentation Program, where handlers show off specially-trained animals.

“It lets people get a very up-close and personal look at animals like (the spotted owl and the red-tailed hawk),” Ellis explained. “(Northwest Trek) is a family experience.”

For more information: Visit www.nwtrek.org.

Loyalty Park

It’s also on the Sumner Historic Walking Tour, but an entire day can be spent at Loyalty Park alone. The property was part of the 160 acres in Sumnerite Levant Thompson’s farm where he planted hops. After an aphid disease breakout in the early 1890s, which destroyed the hop crop, Thompson donated the park to the city.

Now, the park, which is Sumner’s oldest, features the largest and most trees of any Sumner park and has a playground area, basketball court and picnic tables.

“It’s fun to watch people having picnics there,” Sumner Communications Director CarmenPalmer said. “It’s a good Sumner option in the summer.”

Location: The corner of Park Street and Sumner Avenue, 1300 Park Street in Sumner.

Foothills Trails

The Foothills Trail, a 12-foot-wide non-vehicle trail, winds south through Puyallup, east through Orting and to Buckley. An addition connecting Kent and Auburn’s Interurban Trail to the Foothills Trail through Sumner is being planned for the future.

The asphalt trail is suitable for bicycles, pedestrians, skates and has a soft shoulder path for equestrians, making it an ideal place for a day hike or ride.

The trail is considered a rail-trail, meaning that it is an abandoned railbed used as a non-motorized public trail. To assemble the Foothills Trail, which will be over 28 miles in length when fully completed, each segment was purchased or donated to Pierce County individually beginning in 1984.

“Despite roadblocks, construction of the trail is ongoing and thousands of users are already enjoying its benefits,” the Pierce County parks Web site reads.

Due to the efforts of volunteers and county employees, the trail is now nearly completely paved and has been used in events such as the Rainier to Ruston Run.

For more information: www.piercecountytrails.org.

The Shanaman Sports Museum

The museum, named for avid Pierce County athletes Fred and Marjorie Shanaman, is a 15-year-old project of the Tacoma Athletic Commission. The goal of the museum, according to the Web site, is to recreate the history of sports through visual displays, written descriptions and video of famous sports moments in local history.

“The museum will focus not only on athletes, coaches and teams,” the site reads, “but also on administrators, sponsors, officials, sportswriters and broadcasters, all of whom have contributed to our strong sports heritage.”

Museum organizers have also published a book on sports that can be viewed at the sports museum itself.

For more information: Visit http://tacomasportsmuseum.com.

Meeker Mansion

The residence of Ezra Meeker, Oregon Trail pioneer and the first mayor of Puyallup, was built in 1890 after Meeker, who previously lived in a log cabin, decided to build a finer house for his wife, Eliza Jane.

Now, the mansion, which sits on Spring Street, is listed on the National Register of Historic Sites, is open to the public and is available for weddings and private teas, or just to explore. The mansion also serves as the venue for several summer events, including a Fourth of July bash and a July 11 Starving Artists Show, where local artists sell original wares for under $100.

For more information: Call 253-848-1770 or visit www.meekermansion.org.

Sumner community theater groups

For a small town, Sumner has a booming community theater scene, with two theater companies who put on regular performances.

Both ManeStage Theatre Company and Ascension Production Company are family-founded companies. ManeStage, which puts on about seven shows a season, was founded by Southern California natives Jay and Brenda Henson, who owned a community theater in Los Angeles before relocating to Sumner nearly three years ago. Now the couple takes turns directing the plays and working with the cast. This summer, the company is presenting two productions, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in July and “Honk!” in August.

“Having a year-round full community theater is great for Sumner,” Brenda Henson said. “It was something we were passionate about.”

Ascension was founded 15 years ago by Chris and Petra Karr and has performed about 50 productions since its inception. Chris Karr is the set director for the company, while Petra Karr, a former high school drama teacher, does the directing. This summer, for the fourth year in a row, the company is putting on a show for Sumner’s Theatre in the Park outdoor event.

For more information: Visit www.manestagetheatre.com, http://ascensionproduction.blogspot.com or www.ci.sumner.wa.us/Calendar.htm.

Karshner Museum

Puyallup residents Warner and Ella Karshner built the Paul H. Karshner Memorial Museum in 1930 as a lasting tribute to their only son, who died of polio six years earlier. They modeled the museum after the British Museum in London, where they noticed that schoolchildren flocked to the various exhibits and enjoyed learning.

“It was their wish that Puyallup children might have these experiences also,” the museum’s Web site reads.

The couple left over 10,000 artifacts and items at the museum, which is now operated by the Puyallup School District and is one of the few district-operated museums in the United States.

Children and adults alike can enjoy “Bearkiller,” a book on the survival story of museum founder Warner Karshner and his family, who left a comfortable home in Ohio to head west.

For more information, or to order the book: Visit www.karshnermuseum.org.

Sumner Historic Walking Tour

Sumner may be a small town, but they take pride in their rich history, as seen by the carefully arranged Historic Walking Tour outlined on the city’s Web site. The tour, which was sponsored in part by a grant from the Washington Commission from the Humanities, features 29 sights, including three major parks, a school, the city’s cemetery and countless historic homes.

One of the private residences featured is “The Elms” on Sumner Avenue, built in the 1800s by Levant Thompson, the first man from Sumner to serve in the legislative assembly when Washington was a territory. Sumner City Councilmember Ed Hannus now resides in the home, continuing the political legacy of it.

“Levant Thompson was such an interesting man,” Hannus said. “It’s a great house.”

While Thompson’s and many other private residents are part of the tour, Palmer encourages visitors to respect the properties. “While it’s great to stop and admire the history behind these residences, we ask that people do so from the public sidewalk and respect the privacy of the citizens who currently call these sites home,” Palmer said.

Also on the walking tour is the original site of Whitworth University, which began in Sumner, moved to Tacoma in 1899 and finally to its current location in Spokane in 1913.

“Even though the university was here for only about 15 years, this is where it was founded, a fact that many people even at the school don’t realize,” Palmer said. “That’s an important piece of history both for Whitworth and for Sumner.”

The tour can be an educational experience for children and adults alike, Palmer said.

“Whether you live here or are visiting, this tour helps you become part of over 100 years of stories and legacies,” she said. ““Sometimes people assume that history is less than exciting but it’s not so much about old brick buildings as it is about people’s lives and how they affected each other as well as shaped our future. These buildings and sites aren’t just ‘old’ — they represent our stories.”

For more information: Get the entire Historic Walking Tour on the city’s Web site at www.ci.sumner.wa.us/Documents/sumnerwalkingtour.pdf.

Reach Reporter Avani Nadkarni at 253-841-2481 ext 314 or by e-mail at avani.nadkarni@puyallupherald.com.