Annual event raises money for various park district projects

Beaverton’s seventh annual Party in The Park on Saturday again united and celebrated the numerous cultures and ethnic groups that make up the city.

About 7,500 people attended this year’s event, according to Bob Wayt, communications director for the Tualatin Hills Park and Recreation District.

The most popular shows returned, such as the Beaverton Police K-9 unit demonstration and the Beaverton International Celebration.

In its second year, the International Celebration entertained the audience with music and dance performances from a dozen different cultures, ranging from Arabic ancestry to Indian heritage.

Jayne Scott, program manager of Arts, Culture & Events, said performances by Grupo Condor and Boka Marimba were highlights of the celebration.

“They create such energy,” she said. “Boka Marimba got everyone on their feet dancing. And that was so much fun. The Irish group (Tir Eoghain Ceili Dancers) also asked for audience participation and gave some quick little classes.”

The park district’s annual celebration acknowledges the diversity within the city of Beaverton. More than 100 languages are spoken by students in the Beaverton School District, showing the region’s expanse of cultures, Wayt said.

“We, as a park district, feel a responsibility to reach out to those new populations that live within our boundaries now, and we try to welcome them into the park district,” he said. “The International Celebration is one of the key efforts that we make to (do so).”

Work hard, play hard

The event featured the Family Triathlon, which attracted 260 participants, and drop-in tennis, swimming and flag football.

Near the food vendor stands, Washington County Sheriff’s Deputy Jeremy Braun passed out sheriff badge stickers and watched kids and adults climbing in and out of the Washington County Tactical Negotiation Team’s armored vehicle that is displayed at the event each year.

“It’s really great to see the community, to get to know the community on a non-uniform basis,” Braun said. “(I’m) not on patrol so it’s more civilian. It’s a bit easier to talk to people because I don’t have anywhere to go or to be.”

People attending the party for the first time found the action fun for the family. Vileen White, who brought her two grandchildren to the event, ate shave ice with her 6-year-old granddaughter Alexia after checking out at the car exhibition, which she called “neat to look at.”

“Two of the ones I liked were for sale,” Alexia said.

Carla Marziaeck and Monique Spencer brought their two boys to the party. It was their first time attending as well.

“We wanted to be here,” Marziaeck said. “We wanted (the boys) to experience it.”

Both Marziaeck’s and Spencer’s favorite part of the event was the police dog show in which four of the five German Shepherds on the unit showed up to prove why they qualified to work alongside officers. The canines performed in a physical fitness course, sniffed out hidden narcotics and the “bad guys” and demonstrated the strength of their bite during make-believe attack scenarios.

Classic cars, Champion Field

Stephen Lilly and Dick Yelman came to the event specifically for the T-Hills Classic show, which had more than 100 cars on the field and handed out 25 awards.

First-time visitor Lilly finished his Hot Rod car project and presented his work in the exhibition. He has always loved cars.

“My dad had a ’33 Winter Coupe back in the ’50s from one of my earliest recollections, riding around Portland in it,” Lilly said. “So that’s probably my roots to the whole thing. If it weren’t for the cars I wouldn’t be here.”

The T-Hills Classic held its eighth annual exhibition on Saturday, a year before the Party in The Park event existed. Its first show was on September 2005.

The idea emerged in March 2005 after former THPRD General Manager Ron Willoughby asked Janet Allison, chairwoman of the Park Foundation, to put together a classic car show to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the park district.

Allison said the first car show’s success gave a boost to Park Foundation fundraising.

Beaverton’s big citywide event, Summerfest, was last held in 2004, leaving the city’s residents without a big summer event, Allison said.

“So I talked to some people in the district and said, ‘You’ve got the perfect place to do it. You need some kind of community event happening,’ “ she said. “And so they started to think about it and talk about it, and the actual Party in The Park was born.”

Car and truck exhibitors pay a $20 participation fee, and motorcycle exhibitors pay $10. The money goes to the Park Foundation.

The T-Hills Classic raised money for the Family Assistance Program this year, which helps low-income families in being able to afford things they normally would not be able to pay for on their own.

The foundation’s second project is the Champion Field, Allison said, which would raise money for a field for disabled children and adults.

Allison said she fell in love with the project after she heard from THPRD Superintendent of Sports Scott Brucker about a Miracle Field that existed in 40 states but not Oregon.

“I went to a Little League game for disabled kids, and it changed my life,” Allison said. “I just watched the kids play. There were mentally challenged, physically challenged, kids with Down Syndrome (and) kids in wheelchairs. And so I just kind of made this my personal mission to have the foundation get involved in this.”