Chief Garry Park’s centennial on Sunday

The Chief Garry Park Neighborhood Council and Summer Parkways are joining forces to put on a big bicycle- and pedestrian-friendly neighborhood celebration in and around Chief Garry Park and Mission Park on Sunday.

Chief Garry Park is turning 100 years old, and the neighborhood council has put together a family-friendly celebration at the park.

“This will be a family day to enjoy with many activities, food, live music and hourly drawings for prizes,” wrote Colleen Gardner, co-chair of the Chief Garry Neighborhood Council, in an email. “There will be a bouncy castle and visits by McGruff the Crime Dog. There will be something for everybody and an opportunity to get to know your neighbors.”

The Spokane Tribe donated the land that’s now Chief Garry Park to the city of Spokane on June 3, 1912. The park became the focal point around which the Chief Garry Park Neighborhood developed.

This year’s first Summer Parkways is intertwined with the Chief Garry Park party. Summer Parkways is like a four-mile block party with streets closed to vehicular traffic but open to pedestrians, bicyclists, skateboarders and other types of car-free transportation.

“The Chief Garry neighborhood invited us to come and join the celebration with them,” said Katherine Winding, spokesperson for Summer Parkways. “Parkways don’t start in a specific location, it’s a loop you can join anywhere you’d like. We will have lots of volunteers there to give directions.”

This Sunday’s approximately four-mile route loops around Mission Park and crosses the river, winding its way through the Chief Garry Park Neighborhood.