Every year Vashon-Maury Island plays host to a myriad of local events designed to inspire and reflect our unique culture. We celebrate for many reasons: the low tides of the year, the growth of the crop of lavender, the completion of an art collection. The recent addition of the "Evening in …Series" presents the chance for islanders to share their global perspectives.
STOV is determined to maintain, nurture and preserve our island specialness for you, for us, for our children and our children's children to revel in for generations to come.
We hope by opening our doors through these special events you will join us in this long term investment in the future of our community. Please, join us.
Lavender Hill Farm Season 17
Lavender Hill Farm
10425 SW 238th St.
June 16 - July 24 Thu - Sun 11 am - 5 pm
and July 4 11 am - 5 pm
Lavender Hill Farm is celebrating our 17th season.. Our organic farm overlooks Quartermaster Harbor and Mount Rainer. Come cut your own lavender bouquet, or choose one that’s ready to go, enjoy a Dry Lavender Soda and lavender cookies by Champagne Cookie Company, choose your dried sachets from our 20 lavender varieties, take home a lavender wreath, select your special scent from our small batch organic essential lavender oil, and shop lavender products by Suzi’s Lavender, Talo Love, and Belle Terre Ceramics. Admission is free and your children and leashed dogs are welcome. We offer wreath making and distilling workshops through Airbnb Experiences. Come to your senses at Lavender Hill Farm. Located two blocks from the Burton intersection - follow the signs.
Look Closely: The Tiny Fairy House Project of Open Space’s !Attention! Artists at Work initiative (AAW) brought together 10 Vashon artists to create tiny fairy houses tucked among the trees in the Douglas fir grove at Open Space for Arts & Community. Participating artists include Adam Ende, Anic Neely, Carolina Silva, Desiree McIntyre, Jonathan Hunter, Kate Munson, Madeline Morser, Ren Colvos, and others.
After months of designing and crafting the elements of each fairy house, the artists have begun to install the fairy houses into their permanent village in the grove of trees behind Open Space. Come and join us on June 25th at 4-6 PM for the art opening of “Look Closely.” We welcome everyone in the Vashon community to look closely at the wonders of fairy and faerie.
Look Closely: The Tiny Fairy House Project is free and open to the public. Open Space will be accepting donations. The exhibit opens at 4pm. Visit OpenSpaceVashon.org to learn more.
Vashon Island Visual Artists 5th Annual Member Show
Vashon Center for the Arts
Opening Reception : Friday, June 3rd: 5-8pm
Show run: June 3 – June 26
Free
Vashon Center for the Arts (VCA) is hosting Vashon Island Visual Artist’s (VIVA) 5th annual Member Show, in which they invite their members to showcase one or two of their pieces. This year VCA is welcoming 112 Vashon artists in the biggest group show of the year. It is an exciting exhibition that reflects the diversity of work created on Vashon Island.
Juneteenth Annual Celebration
Sunday June 19th, 2022
11am - 2pm
@Mukai Farm & Garden
18017 107th/Mukai Way
Vashon, WA 98070
VASHON ISLAND JUNETEENTH CELEBRATION
Sunday, June 19, 2022
In commemoration of Juneteenth, the Vashon Juneteenth Committee and Mukai Farm & Garden are organizing an event that will be both educational and in the spirit of a jubilee. Please join us at Mukai Farm & Garden on June 19, 2022 from 11am to 2pm for a family-friendly day of recognition and celebration of the contributions of Black Americans and culture. The event will feature a presentation of the importance of federal reparations for the American Descendants of Slavery.
There will be live music performances by Vashon’s John Browne and Tacoma’s Kim Archer. Local chefs are preparing food for purchase that will be sure to excite your taste buds. A big thank you to Chefs, Chantel Jackson of Thyme Well Spent, Michaella Olavarri of Mica's Kitchen and Dre Neeley of Gravy.
Registration Questions: For registration questions about the 2022 Summer Sailing program, contact Eric Wyatt (206) 463-9602 | [email protected].
The Vashon Park District's Bruce Haulman Junior Sailing Program participants meet at the Quartermaster Yacht Club (23428 Vashon Hwy. SW) on the first date of each respective camp class. Each camp will be for four days.
Each four-day session costs $375. They start the week of Monday, July 12, and end on the week starting Monday, August 16. Beginner camp hours are 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Junior camp hours are 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Class size is limited to 24 students combined between beginner and junior classes. If your desired session is full, you
link
https://www.vashonparks.org/sailing-program
VASHON FARMERS MARKET
Our Farmers Market is located on lovely Vashon Island, WA.
*Service Animals Only at the Market. Thank you for your understanding!
Swing Dance Party
Sunday, June 19th at 7:00pm
Vashon Center for the Arts
Put on your dancin’ shoes (or just relax and enjoy the music!) as Drama Dock puts the ‘party’ into fundraising with the toe-tapping, high-octane music of the Zimberg Mardis Big Band – featuring some of the top swing and jazz musicians in the PNW. Purchase a drink, grab a snack, and celebrate June 19 Fun-Day evening with the whole family.
Dance, frolick, and sing-a-long with guest vocalists such as Maggie Laird and Lisa Peretti, as well as solo musicians for a special celebration of Drama Dock as a theatre of fun! A bargain ticket price helps to support Drama Dock’s 2022-23 theatre season
Car Parade:
Through Uptown Vashon 10:00 am
Car Show: Vashon Center for the Arts 10:30 a.m-2:00 p.m
Sunday, July 17th, 2022
Strawberry Festival Sunday!
Shine up your ride and get your motor running: our annual Festival Car Show and Parade will be here before you know it! See the parade go through uptown at 10:00 am, and swing by VCA at 10:30 am to see all the cool rides up close.
Sue Trevathan and Steve Caldwell will repeat a favorite walk: birding by ear, Saturday, May 21 along Old Mill Road. This walk is limited to 10 participants. For more information and to register, email [email protected].
Saturday, June 11
Steve Caldwell will lead a “birding by ear” walk. For more information and to register, email [email protected].
A walk for birders who require assistance will be led by Sue Trevathan on the half-mile loop trail behind the former Community Care Center. This 1 to 1.5 hour event is Intended for people who use wheelchairs, walkers, scooters, seeing eye dogs, etc. The trail is compacted gravel and there are several benches.
Meet at 9 AM and follow Covid protocols.
Saturday,
Saturday, June 11
Steve Caldwell will lead a “birding by ear” walk. For more information and to register, email [email protected].
The 2022 festival is an all-volunteer festival celebrating the Vashon community. The Chamber, local Vashon organizations and businesses are producing activities and events uptown and around the island.
As we emerge with less restrictions, we will be bringing back more favorite Festival activities, while continuing to consideration the safety of our Vashon community. We strive to continue the tradition of a weekend filled community, fun, music, art, and connection..
The Vashon Heritage Museum and Vashon Nature Center are excited to announce the opening of our new exhibit Natural Wonder: An Island Shaped by Water with a specially ticketed fundraiser featuring a guided tour by many of the local experts who helped create the exhibit.
Join us on Friday, Nov. 5, 5:00-9:00 pm to explore the wonder of nature on Vashon Island and learn about how all life is intrinsically connected and shaped by the water around us. Enter the Puget Sound portal and experience the journey of salmon from the waters of the Pacific Ocean as they return to their spawning grounds at Shinglemill Creek.
HERON MEADOW MURAL
THE VASHON AUDUBON
A bird mural is taking flight in the Heron Meadow next to Vashon Center for the Arts. Britt Freda, internationally acclaimed Vashon artist, is painting birds of the Judd Creek watershed and Quartermaster Harbor on the retaining wall at the site.
Freda, Vashon Audubon, Vashon Center for the Arts, and Vashon Nature Center are collaborating to bring the mural to life.
The Heron Meadow is part of the eastern headwaters of Judd Creek, our island’s largest salmon-bearing creek. Historically used as an agricultural field, the meadow is being restored by the Vashon Nature Center to become a sanctuary for native wildlife and a demonstration site for how to restore wildlife habitat.
The colorful mural showcases birds found in the Judd Creek watershed that are threatened by our changing climate. Just like us, birds need food, water, and a safe place to raise their young.
Our intention is to inspire Islanders to help birds and other wildlife by doing all we can to ensure healthy habitat and reduce the impacts of climate change.
Vashon Audubon’s Native Habitat Garden, behind the Vashon-Maury Island Heritage Museum, is growing high and filling out.
It’s June, and the Henderson’s checkermallow and nodding onion are in bloom. The seashore lupine is spreading out, full of flowers and thriving in the center mound.
This month, new work is being completed on the garden pathway. Crushed gravel is making a more firm walking surface and making it continuous with the museum’s walkway, which is also being improved and resurfaced.
Once the museum walkway and patio are rebuilt, our “welcome” signage will finally be installed along the new walkway. Thank you to Bob Powell at Meadow Creature for making our beautiful new sign!
Next up is to install a small informational kiosk with an interpretive sign, and develop an online map and plant guide of the garden.
Stop by any time to enjoy this place and find ideas for providing bird habitat in your garden.
MUKAI FARM GARDEN
The Home
Now on the National Register of Historic Places, the restored Mukai house offers a glimpse into the life of the Mukai family from 1926 to 1942. The house is charming, full of educational signage, available for parties and events, and is open to the public repeatedly throughout the year. Check the events calendar.
The Japanese Garden
Designed and installed during the 1930’s by Kuni Mukai, a Japanese immigrant, her “hill garden” features extensive rockwork, plantings and a surrounding pond. The Garden is under restoration; this work will be completed this winter. The Garden will once again be a beautiful setting for all manner of events.
The Fruit Barreling Plant
After purchasing the 60 acres in 1926, the family immediately constructed the Barreling Plant—the facility used to process and pack their strawberry harvest as well as that of other berry farmers. With this entrepreneurial process, the family shipped berries all across the United States.
Restoration of the Barreling Plant will begin in the summer of 2019. With over 6000’, the building will include a public gathering space as well as tenants that compliment the original use of the site.
VASHON HERITAGE MUSEUM
Our Commitment to You
Although Vashon Heritage Museum is currently closed to visitors, we remain committed to you and our mission to collect and share the stories
of our community.
Time stands still as island’s small grocery stores beckon
Vashon has other options for buying groceries in the time of coronavirus.
It’s Minglement, a neighborhood grocery store that has operated for more than 40 years, where islanders can still shop for a broad array of all-organic and non-GMO products including canned goods, meats, fresh island produce, eggs, cheese, butter, milk, nuts, oils, honey, vinegars, spices, healthy snacks and beverages, including kombucha.
Vashon's Winterfest Weekend features First Friday Gallery Cruise, The Artists Studio Tour, Merchant Open Houses, and Santa Parade & Tree Lighting Ceremony. Join any number of these community festivities to kick off your holiday season - all happening
in the heart of Vashon town.
WINTERFEST CELEBRATION:
Saturday, December 3, 2022
5:00 PM 8:30 PM
Join us uptown from 4:30-6:00 for crafts, cocoa, music, and mulled wine. Make your own ornament to hang on the community tree with help from merchants located between Island Queen & Voice of Vashon. Write a letter to Santa.
join the parade with Santa and Mrs. Claus at 6 PM outside the Vashon Movie Theatre. The parade will head north, ending at Vashon Village. Santa will welcome all from the stage and special guests will help light the community holiday tree. Nutcracker characters, tappers, and Folklorico dancers will entertain. More crafts, caroling, and a Santa Meet & Greet all happening in Vashon Village. Join us for the fun!
