City’s 10th anniversary bash will be next week

The city of Spokane Valley will celebrate its 10th anniversary with a huge birthday bash next Saturday at CenterPlace, one of the city’s flagship facilities.

The free celebration will offer a carnival, prizes, live entertainment and more from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The Spokane Valley Heritage Museum will be there with history presentations. The Greenacres Marimba Ensemble and the East Valley High School Bella Noche Select Choir will perform. Vendors will participate in a Recycled, Upcycled and Repurposed (R.U.R.) Bazaar.

Children will also have plenty to do in addition to the carnival games. The …

The city of Spokane Valley will celebrate its 10th anniversary with a huge birthday bash next Saturday at CenterPlace, one of the city’s flagship facilities.

The free celebration will offer a carnival, prizes, live entertainment and more from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The Spokane Valley Heritage Museum will be there with history presentations. The Greenacres Marimba Ensemble and the East Valley High School Bella Noche Select Choir will perform. Vendors will participate in a Recycled, Upcycled and Repurposed (R.U.R.) Bazaar.

Children will also have plenty to do in addition to the carnival games. The Spokane County Library District will offer story times for youngsters. The city’s pirate- and princess-themed party rooms will be on display. The Spokane Valley Fire Department will have a fire truck and visits are expected from McGruff the Crime Dog and the fire department’s arson dog, Mako.

Representatives from the Spokane, Coeur d’Alene, Colville and Kalispel tribes will have historical displays and traditional crafts for sale in a special Native American heritage and culture room. The tribes will also present a round dance.

The event is very different from the city’s fifth anniversary celebration, which included booths from local community groups and nonprofit organizations.

“The anniversary is not about the community organizations, it’s about the citizens that make up Spokane Valley,” said city spokeswoman Carolbelle Branch. “We wanted to make sure it was a party for the community.”

Branch put together the event with the help of a committee formed to plan a year’s worth of special events. The committee includes community members as well as former mayors and council members. “We had a list that was three pages long of our ideas,” Branch said.

In recent weeks the list of activities at the anniversary bash has grown, but Branch said no more new additions are anticipated. “We haven’t quite filled the building,” she said. “If I had more time, I would have. We wanted it to be a big party for everybody.”