Neary-Sighted

Darn it, just don't have time to write a summary of a report that got handed out last night, but if you care at all about Fort Steilacoom Park, I strongly recommend you get a copy. This is what I wrote some of our advisory board members a few minutes ago:

I strongly recommend picking up or downloading a copy of the report as soon as you can. This report won't just knock your socks off, it will blast your socks through at least three walls. There's a lot of big picture thinking, and challenges to think of extraordinary opportunity and potential. It's really nice to see history and heritage, parks and recreation, economic development, and all the equally important factors blended together in both fact-finding and vision.

It's not a blueprint, by any stretch of the imagination, but it's a powerful call to be creative. What a wonderful thing in these economically depressed times.

This report offers a good starting point for a grand vision of the park. What resonated most with me so far is that the report looks at all the aspects of the park as important: as obviously a place for parks and recreation, but also as a driver for our local economy and as a unique resource in all Washington for history and heritage.

Of course, I've also been saying for years that we should have a mini-farm at the park for the benefit of schoolchildren. The park was a farm back in the Hudson's Bay Company days and then of course later for Western State Hospital. That's the other reason I like the report ;) You'll see what I mean. Let me know what you think.

Enough breathless talk, here's the link to the city report and where you can download the actual document.
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I'd been planning to post a resolution I wrote to honor Marcus Walker, and here The News Tribune writer Christian Hill did a very nice blog post I'll paste here in a minute. Lakewood Patch also had an article, and I'm indebted to my former Lakewood Journal colleague Steve Dunkelberger for the picture at right, swiped from his Facebook page.

Of course, there are a number of people in Lakewood who've faced a serious illness. In a sense, I think of all them as I consider the proclamation. What I admire about Marcus is how gracefully he's borne not only the illness, but also public awareness of his illness. We have plenty of heroes in the Lakewood arts, heritage and cultural communities, but only a few superheroes. Marcus' single-minded dedication to the Playhouse for longer than anyone else is worth note.

Above he's pictured with the council and his wife, Lauren Walker, recently elected deputy mayor of Tacoma. This is a busy family.

Added at 4 p.m.: After posting this, I heard from Kurt Sample of Lakewood's Promise that he had posted a link to a video of the event. You can see a couple of clips from the council meeting at the page. The video reminds me why I decided to not go into theater! But you can hear the proclamation and especially hear from Marcus himself. Check it out. The page itself is pretty nice, with feeds in the side columns from several local news sources.

Anyways, here's that post from The News Trib:

Lakewood honors theater director
Posted By Christian Hill on January 5, 2011 at 3:08 pm

The Lakewood City Council on Monday honored Marcus Walker, managing artistic director of the Lakewood Playhouse, for his outstanding public service to the community.

Councilman Walter Neary, who read the proclamation and presented Walker, 53, a copy afterward, began his recitation by apologizing for its length.

“You deserve each and every word,” he said.

Walker said many grapple with life’s trials and personal struggles and the purpose of the theater’s production is to “uplift, redeem and send people off with a new sense of hope that life is worth living.”

He received a standing ovation from the City Council and members of the audience.

Walker has run the community theater for a decade and is currently on medical leave during treatment for aggressive melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer. He has had a long career in theater, works as an American Baptist minister and has served as a longtime member of the city Lodging Tax Advisory Committee.

The proclamation described Walker as “one of the most powerful individual influences in the intellectual development of Lakewood through the arts."

A copy of full text of the proclamation reads:

WHEREAS, 72 years ago, volunteers formed what is now known as the Lakewood Playhouse, holding their first meetings at the Little Church on the Prairie and their first performances in the Lakewood Theater, beginning more than seven decades in which the Playhouse has helped to not only entertain and inspire people from throughout the region, but also give Lakewood a unique identity and build community; and

WHEREAS, in 2001, the Playhouse board hired a former education director for the Tacoma Little Theater, Marcus Walker, who holds a bachelor’s degree in drama from the University of Washington and a Master’s Certificate from Mountview Academy of Theater Arts in London, as the playhouse’s fourth paid staff director; and

WHEREAS, Marcus Walker already had a long career in theater, but has also served his community as a minister, as he holds a Master’s in Divinity from Andover Newton Theological School in Boston and was ordained an American Baptist Minister at Fremont Baptist Church in 1985, and is currently a minister at Burton Community Church on Vashon Island; and

WHEREAS, for the 10 seasons he has presided over the Lakewood Playhouse, the longest tenure of anyone in his role, Marcus Walker has helped the playhouse with unprecedented critical and financial growth, increasing the budget by tenfold and bringing in about 14,000 audience members to shows last year: and

WHEREAS, Marcus Walker’s personal commitment to the importance of theater in the life of youth as a force for good as led to the Playhouse’s Youth Theatre Education program serving more than 250 young people a year regardless of their ability to pay tuition; and

WHEREAS, in summary the Lakewood Playhouse is the cultural heart of a diverse community, enriching our community through the stories it tells; its intimate venue provides an unusual theatrical experience and its productions receive strong positive reviews, while at the same time bringing theater in a community outside of the many resources found in larger cities, requiring strong skills in artistic and financial management; and

WHEREAS, Marcus Walker has brought wisdom to his role as a member of the City of Lakewood Lodging Tax Advisory Committee, where his service is valued because Marcus Walker has been one of the most powerful individual influences in the intellectual development of Lakewood through the arts; and

WHEREAS, besides directing countless productions, Marcus Walker has performed himself in as varied a set of roles as Dr. Seuss’s Horton, Petruchio, Lord Cromwell, Dr. Watson and Scrooge, and one of the more challenging roles in current theater, Thurston Wheelis in the Greater Tuna series, in which Marcus Walker in one play must assume 11 roles, both male and female; and

WHEREAS, when confronted with serious illness, Marcus Walker has taken on perhaps his most significant role: becoming a role model for anyone in a similar situation, bearing his latest challenge with grace and extraordinary humor, agreeing to be the subject of a roast at which several hundred people enjoyed his company and also raised money for the Playhouse. If All the World’s a Stage, and thus all Lakewood a stage, among its most magnificent performers today is Marcus Walker; and

WHEREAS, Marcus Walker everyday is writing a script for anyone else looking illness in the eye in a dramatic, public way, showing more courage, creativity and class than should be possible; and inspiring our Council to honor him today even though it expects him to be directing and performing in plays at the Lakewood Playhouse for many years to come.


NOW, THEREFORE, the Lakewood City Council do hereby express its sincere appreciation to MARCUS WALKER for dedication and outstanding public service to the City of Lakewood, the community and its residents, and on behalf of the residents of the City does hereby express its heartfelt wishes and gratitude for all of the time and effort Marcus Walker has given to the betterment of the community and the City of Lakewood.
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