Guides
WEEKLY VOLCANO: Who are you and what do you do? MARGUERITE GIGUERE: Just a girl in Tacoma with a dream. I like jumping out of planes, singing karaoke and going to happy hour with my friends! I'm a Realtor at Windermere Professional Partners specializing in houses and condos in downtown Tacoma
News
A diverse range of art on display by military veterans inspired and entertained visitors to the 2017 VA Puget Sound Creative Arts Festival March 2-4 at American Lake VA Hospital in Lakewood. One-hundred and twenty-nine works were represented across 34 visual arts categories in fine arts, applied arts and craft kits.
We Recommend
Performance art in the Tacoma bar scene has typically been one of two things: Goldfish racing or the awkward courting rituals at the end of a Kry show. Jazzbones will add a third category when it hosts Ten Tiny Dances Saturday. For those who haven't caught the buzz,
Music
While there's certainly not a dearth of options for your entertainment dollar in the City of Destiny, it can still be reflexive to look at a place like Seattle with envy. A metropolis with an artistic bent like Seattle is, by its nature, positively lousy with shows every night of
Focus
Whenever times got tough and Jesse Tuivaive was struggling with a challenge in his life, all he had to think about for motivation was the plight of 442nd Regimental Combat Team of the U.S. Army. The Washington High School Air Force JROTC cadet saw a documentary on television profiling the unit,
Focus
When given the choice to stay at work chained to a desk or leave to go run through giant mud pits in the sharp chill of the morning, Master Sgt. Shannon Mehalik didn't hesitate. Bring on the mud, she declared. But it took some convincing for other Reservists in the 86th Aerial
Focus
With the placement of a brick engraved with his uncle's name in the center plaza of Memorial Grove on McChord Field, Dr. Mark Fagan closed the book on a six-year mission. Pvt. Fred Fagan, a member of Merrill's Marauders (officially named the 5307th Composite Unit), was killed along with six other
Operation Family Support
Recently the city of Lakewood, in partnership with the Washington State Employment Security Department and other local economic development organizations, was awarded a sizeable National Emergency Grant in the amount of $4.8 million though the Department of Labor, which made the grant available as a result of the Base Realignment
Focus
For the past 15 years, Trisha Hatfield Graves - a former mortgage loan processor - has been teaching Pilates classes. For most of that time, it's been at her own studio, the Pilates Center of Olympia. "I opened this at a time when no one south of Seattle had opened a
Music
On Thursday, March 2, the Washington State History Museum in downtown Tacoma will rock with the sounds of the 90s while patrons sample tasty brews from Three Magnets Brewing Company in Olympia. Presented by the Washington State History Museum, Three Magnets Brewing and Obee Credit Union, the Music to My
Focus
Members of the 555th Engineer Brigade gathered the morning of May 20 to pay tribute to the unit's Soldiers who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2003. The dedication of the Triple Nickel Fallen Warriors Memorial, which is located at Memorial Park on Joint Base Lewis-McChord, featured a somber reading
Focus
Editor's Note: Diana Veseth-Nelson's husband, retired Army Capt. Adrian Veseth-Nelson, was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after his second deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He received treatment through the Deployment Health Clinical Center's specialized care program. Here's Diana's story of coping with PTSD as a military wife, supporting her husband
Focus
Sgt. 1st Class Ray Castillo is again flourishing as a senior noncommissioned officer at Joint Base Lewis-McChord., but that almost didn't seem possible two years ago. That's when his 10th combat deployment with the 75th Ranger Regiment resulted in a life-changing event on the dusty battlefield of northern Iraq. Today, he's
Operation Family Support
On May 20, the Fort Lewis Family Member Scholarship Fund held its 2011 awards ceremony and presented 26 military spouses and children with scholarships. On average, the group raises $23,000 annually, yet this year it raised $28,700 from a variety of sources, including private donations, the Armed Forces Bank, the
Veterans
Evergreen State College waives 50 percent of tuition for all veterans and 100 percent for dependents of disabled, deceased, Missing in Action or Prisoner of War veterans. What a way to go to school, right? Evergreen also provides the VETS seminar, which is a college-accredited course taught by retired servicemember Bob McIntosh.
News Front
One would be hard pressed to not already associate the American flag with patriotism, but the term, "Massing of the Colors", isn't necessarily a household name. "The American public in general may've automatically associated patriotism with Massing of the Colors," said Patriotic Day event coordinator, retired Maj. Gen. John Hemphill. "But
Tacoma Week In Review
This has been a week seemingly dedicated to public dialogue for the City of Tacoma. Although Tuesday's council meeting was cancelled to observe Monday's holiday, the Planning Commission invited citizens to share opinions during the recent moratorium on billboards adopted by the Tacoma City Council and also engage in a
News
Hundreds of veterans leave the military emotionally, mentally, and physically scarred, but many of those same veterans discover therapeutic healing and purpose through artistic expression. Through Saturday, March 4, the VA Puget Sound Health Care System will host its annual Creative Arts Festival at American Lake. The auditorium will be filled
News Front
Imagine you're the spouse of an active-duty servicemember and your family just transferred to a new state. (Some of our readers don't have to imagine. Welcome to Washington!) Moving is one of the most stressful and exhausting experiences in life, but it's par for the course in military life. Fortunately,
Stage
John Patrick Shanley's Doubt, A Parable, has earned the rare honor of taking home the trifecta of awards: the Tony, the Academy Award and the Pulitzer Prize. Chances are you've seen the film starring the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, but if you have not seen it live on stage -