Tri-City Area and Real Estate Blog

Over the course of 24 years, the Ye Merry Greenwood Faire and its players have grown in dimension, numbers and types of performances. With their beginnings in 1986 having only 17 vendors to the present where they boast 70 vendors, 8 stages and 30 professional acts; the Greenwood Players have brought joy, merriment and a bit of fantasy to a generation of Tri-Citians.  There couldn’t be a more fitting venue for this Faire than Howard Amon Park in Richland with the beautiful shade trees, the sparkling waters of the Columbia River and the lush green grasses of the park. All this adds to the ‘feel’ of being in another space in time where fair ladies, court jesters, jousting knights and strolling musicians brought life to an otherwise dreary existence for the “common folk”.  The Greenwood storytellers are such fun to listen to as they entwine you into their tales with exceptional performance skills and antics. The merriment begins at 9:30 a.m. on June 26 and 27th and ends around 5:30 p.m.  For more information go to www.yemerriegreenwoodfaire.org.

3 senior driving classes are being offered by AARP in the Tri-Cities. The 8-hour refresher classes give senior an opportunity to update their skills and knowledge. Classes are $12 for AARP members and $14 for non-members, and will be held as follows:

June 7th & 8th starting at 8:30 am – Richland Community Center. Call 942-7529 to register.

June 9th & 10th starting at 9am - Pasco Senior Center. Call 545-3459 to register

July 15th & 16th starting at 9am – Kennewick Senior Center. Call 585-4303 to register.

The West Richland Area Chamber of Commerce’s annual Hogs and Dogs event is coming up on June 24th at the Bombing Range Sports Complex in West Richland. Over 10,000 people and approximately 4,000 motorcycles attended last year’s event. Admission to the event is $5 and there is a beer garden, live music and motorcycle related vendors. There will also be a raffle for a new Victory motorcycle with tickets being $10 for tickets. 

Call 967-0521 for more information and to buy raffle tickets.

Community development, feeding seniors, creating affordable housing & first-time homebuyer assistance are all focus projects for the forthcoming $2.3 million in federal funds that will be awarded to the Tri-Cities. The Department of Housing & Urban Development Community Development Block Grants and HOME Investment Partnerships Program is where the funds will be coming from according to the Northwest HUD director. This year Kennewick will get $618,526, Pasco will get $667,834 and Richland will receive $294,548 in federal funds, which will allow individual agencies to apply for funding for projects. There are several agencies that will recieve funds, and in addition some money will go into city parks, affordable housing and community development. An additional $681,521 will be split among the three cities from the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, which will be used as down payment assistance programs to aid first-time homebuyers.

New laboratory building for PNNL in Richland have been built with green technology and materials, and that in turn has earned PNNL with a gold certification level from the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program. The Biological Sciences Facility and the adjoining Computational Sciences Facility were opened last fall and house about 300 employees. The materials used in the construction consisted of approximately 78% of recycled and because of the design concept that goes beyond standard building codes, there was a 35% savings on energy. Both of the buildings use heat to warm offices generated from the computer servers in the Computational Sciences Facility that would be wasted otherwise. The gold level certification is the 2nd highest status for the LEED program, and very few laboratories have reached that award level throughout the nation. PNNL deservedly should be proud of their accomplishment. Kudos to those green thinking individuals for their hard work and determination.

For years the shelterbelt lineal park that follows along the Richland bypass has gone pretty much without attention, and consists mainly of dirt. But soon a group of volunteers will address that and plant flowers to add color and a little vitality to the area as a neighborhood sponsored art project. There will a lovely sculpture of children playing basketball as an additional feature. The city has just added timers for the new sprinkler system and they are re-doing a 300-foot portion of the trail leading from the shelterbelt area to Paul Liddell Park.  There is a restroom planned for near the art site. Karina Thorne of Richland, obtained a $4500 grant and then an addtional $5000 was raised to add landscaping, with Gamache Landscaping donating plants and labor. About $3700 in donations was raised to pay for the sculpture and the site will also include swinging benches and a basketball court.  Many local vendors have provided donated materials or labor for this enhancement.  This is a wonderful example of many coming together to create beauty in an otherwise forgotten space.  Congratulations on a job well done!