A Year in Auburn: Parades, Pet Palooza and a Crow With Fries

If something is happening in Auburn, there is a good chance Amanda Valdez had a hand in it. She is the special events coordinator for the City of Auburn’s Parks, Arts and Recreation department, and her calendar runs from a Veterans Parade with about 4,000 participants to a scavenger hunt for laminated paper bunnies.

She grew up in Girl Scouts, found her calling running events during a year of AmeriCorps service, and spent about ten years running the Auburn Farmers Market before moving to the city’s larger events. In this episode she walks through a full year of things to do in Auburn, plans a Saturday for a first time visitor, and explains the giant crow holding a box of fries.

Things to do in Auburn, WA, all year long

Amanda built this conversation to work in any month, so here is her year. In spring, Peter Cottontrail hides laminated paper bunnies in parks across town over Easter weekend, and the Clean Sweep around Earth Day puts hundreds of volunteers to work, mostly pulling blackberries. Pet Palooza fills Game Farm Park the Saturday before Memorial Day weekend with more than 150 pet vendors and a dog trot.

Summer starts with Kids Day at Les Gove Park at the end of the school year, and it is free. The 4th of July festival brings two stages, a car show and a wristband for the rides. The farmers market runs Sundays, June through September, at Les Gove Park, and August has an almost 5K fun run that doubles as a poker run, so you do not have to be fast to win.

Two parades worth planning around

The fall belongs to the Veterans Parade and Observance, now in its 61st year: more than 120 units every year, about 4,000 participants, and more than 160 entries already for 2026. Amanda’s advice for first timers: “bring a flag and bring some tissues.” Parking for the parade is free.

December brings the Lighted Santa Parade and Tree Lighting, where one Auburn kid, age 5 to 9, is picked to light the tree at City Hall. The same month the city runs a gingerbread contest that, Amanda says, is not about graham cracker houses anymore.

A Saturday in Auburn, planned by a local

Scott asked Amanda to play tour guide for a friend who has never been to Auburn. Her Saturday starts with a couple of laps around Les Gove Park and a photo with the Crow With Fries, then coffee, chocolates and ice cream for breakfast at Gosanko Chocolate. From there it is the White River Valley Museum for a little Auburn history, more parks, and an evening show from the city’s Bravo performing arts series while the Auburn Avenue Theater is being rebuilt. The new theater is expected in 2027.

About that crow

The Crow With Fries is a welded aluminum sculpture by artist Peter Reiquam, installed in May 2019 on the site of the old Triple XXX Root Beer Drive In, later Big Daddy’s Drive In. In the episode Amanda remembers it as “over 40 feet tall.” A friendly fact check: it is actually 12 feet tall and 18 feet long, which is still plenty of crow.

Also in this episode

Mando’s Disc Golf Pro Shop, Aura Song Gifts, and Z Street Coffee Roasters, a home roaster you can find on Facebook. Lunch at Oddfellas Pub and Eatery, dessert from Pie Style Bakery across from City Hall, and the question every guest gets: cake or pie? Pie, apple, no question. For more to do in town, start with our Auburn guide.

Auburn dates to know

• Veterans Parade and Observance (61st): Saturday, November 7, 2026, 11 AM, Main Street. Park free at the Transit Center garage.
• Lighted Santa Parade and Tree Lighting: Saturday, December 5, 2026, 4:30 PM, East Main Street to City Hall. Free.
• Gingerbread contest: early December, Auburn Community and Event Center. Free, with public voting.
• Every year: Peter Cottontrail (Easter weekend), Clean Sweep (around Earth Day), Pet Palooza (Saturday before Memorial Day weekend, Game Farm Park), Kids Day (end of the school year, Les Gove Park), the 4th of July festival (Les Gove Park), the almost 5K poker run (August), and the Auburn Farmers Market (Sundays, June through September, Les Gove Park).

Links

• Crow With Fries, City of Auburn: auburnwa.gov/crowwithfries
• Aura Song Gifts: aurasonggifts.com
• Auburn Farmers Market: our Auburn Farmers Market listing
• Things to do in Auburn: our Auburn guide

Related episodes

• Coffee, UFOs and micro adventures in Seattle Southside with Mark Everton, more of South King County
• Voluntold: how Brian Alley ended up running a folk festival in Winthrop, another person who makes events happen
• Reimagining the Tri Cities with Kevin Lewis, another champion for his corner of the state

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Amanda Valdez City of Auburn Episode Transcript

Scott Cowan:

So my guest today is Amanda Valdez, who’s the special events coordinator for Auburn Parks. Your signature line says Auburn Parks, Arts and Recreation, but I’m just gonna shorten that to Auburn, okay? No offense to parks, arts or recreation. It’s just, you’re with the City of Auburn, and you know, this is, like I said, the special events coordinator, and you reached out because of an event coming up in Auburn that we’re gonna talk about. Then we started talking about other things, all about Auburn, and then my 100 year ago connection to the, to the community, which we’ll bring up here in a little bit. So Amanda, welcome.

Amanda Valdez:

Thank you. Thank you for having me.

Scott Cowan:

Yeah. Amanda, before we start talking about Auburn, I want to know a little bit about your backstory, and how did you end up in the role that you’re in?

Amanda Valdez:

Yeah, that’s a great question. Happy to share. I grew up in Girl Scouts, Girl Scouts of Western Washington, my whole life, K through 12. Shout out to my mom. And worked on a lot of events and programming and things that I didn’t even realize I was learning in Girl Scouts. And then went away for school, down in Oregon, graduated, didn’t quite know where I was going, joined AmeriCorps and did that for one term, one term year of service, still in Oregon. And my favorite part of my AmeriCorps service was working on the events. So that’s kind of where I started to really fall in love with doing this as a career. And then move back to Washington to be closer to family after AmeriCorps, found a part time position here with the Parks Department as an assistant, working on both events in the theater side. I have a little bit of theater background as well. And then my position became available. And so I worked on primarily the farmers market, the Auburn Farmers Market, which runs Sundays, June through September, at Les Gove Park. I did that for about 10 years, and then we had some changes in our department, and now I get the opportunity to work on new to me events, long standing events in Auburn that are larger scale. So really excited to continue to work on these events. It’s been a couple of years in my new role, but still at the City of Auburn.

Scott Cowan:

So it’s interesting, we talked before on the phone, you mentioned the Girl Scouts connection, and I teased you about, oh, you’re the one. But I really shouldn’t have teased you, because it completely slipped my mind, and this is kind of embarrassing to admit, that when you were talking about Girl Scouts just now, I realized, I’m kidding you, when you were out there pushing cookies. But I grew up, my father worked for Nabisco for 38 years. I worked for Nabisco, so I’ve been pushing cookies too. So, I mean, it’s like our formative years were based around, you know, chocolate covered cookies. Gotta put you on the spot. I’m gonna hit you with a hard question up front. What’s your favorite Girl Scout cookie?

Amanda Valdez:

Oh, Samoas.

Scott Cowan:

Really? Okay, okay. And do you have, is there one that you skip?

Amanda Valdez:

Yeah, I can’t go wrong with caramel and chocolate. But this is embarrassing, because I don’t know if Trefoils are still around. If Trefoils are around, it’s the plain shortbread.

Scott Cowan:

Like, okay, but that’s, that, yeah, I don’t know. Right, that you, that one didn’t work for you. Okay, cool. Now there’s no, there’s no right or wrong answers there, but okay. So, okay, all right. So you worked, this is interesting. So you, like you said, your formative years were kind of event driven, in, you end up now coordinating events for the municipality. But before we get to talk about Auburn, well, we’re going to talk about a certain part now, because I didn’t realize you were with the farmers market. So let’s just talk about the Auburn Farmers Market for a couple of seconds here. Every community that has a farmers market, and I think farmers markets are fascinating. And this isn’t to pit Auburn against Renton, because when we talked before, I was talking about Renton. So I’m probably going to say Renton a lot today, is a sibling type community. No offense to Auburn, no offense to Renton.

Amanda Valdez:

It’s okay. We’re friends.

Scott Cowan:

But what makes the, yeah, frenemies, I don’t know, what are you guys, I don’t know. But what is, what, in your opinion, is special about the Auburn Farmers Market? And I’m going to make an assumption that you’ve been to other markets in the region. So what should somebody who likes farmers markets, that maybe has never been to Auburn, know that Auburn’s got gone forth there?

Amanda Valdez:

Oh, that is a good question. Well, we have a great variety of over 40 vendors rotating out each week. It’s probably going to continue to increase. We haven’t really… We’re very fortunate. We’re in a beautiful park setting. So the Auburn Farmers Market is held Sundays, June through September, at Les Gove Park. Have you seen the giant Crow With Fries? There’s…

Scott Cowan:

I have not, and that is now on my list of photo opportunities for my visit to Auburn in the upcoming weeks.

Amanda Valdez:

Totally. So we’ve got this really cool art structure, the giant Crow With Fries. It’s right on Auburn Way South. And we’ve also got a walking trail that goes to the park, and a splash pad, and it’s right next to the library and the community center and the Senior Activity Center and the museum, the White River Valley Museum, which is open on Sundays and is free. So when you come to the Auburn Farmers Market, you’re coming for potentially a whole day of fun. I mean, there’s something to do for everyone, on top of our handcrafted artisans and our Washington grown farmers and our processors that are making hot sauces and spices out of their homes and commercial kitchens. I mean, the bakeries alone. My husband does not like it when I buy bread every Sunday. But how can you beat freshly baked bread? So we have a real big advantage being at Les Gove Park, and there’s so much to do here on this campus.

Scott Cowan:

Okay, all right. No, I just think, I think farmers markets are one of those things that, they’re a great incubator for somebody who’s got an idea. They want to know, I’m, like you kind of said, hot sauces at home. There’s that cottage industry thing that you can, I don’t, get air quotes around, get away with for a little while before you have to graduate up to, you know, a commercial kitchen environment. A good friend of mine was doing spice rubs, and he rented, and I was trying to help him from the marketing side of it, and one of the bigger challenges for him, this was pre COVID, was finding a commercial kitchen that he could afford while launching a micro business, if you will. And it was, in, so he outgrew the cottage thing, but it was, there was this gap. And I remember going to farmers markets with him to kind of help him set up and tear down and just, you know, kind of go around it. I was always amazed at the people that were there who, it was a lot of sauces, barbecue sauces and hot sauces and all that. People seem to, everyone seems to think, like, they’ve got this great recipe and they can make it in their kitchen and sell it. And it’s kind of fun to watch. I like encouraging that in people. All right. So we kind of touched on the farmers market. Now, to keep this conversation about Auburn pertinent, we’re going to, I want to start with an event that’s, I’m kind of, kind of jumping event, but we’re going to talk about the Veterans Day thing, because that was, that was the initial conversation. But I want, I want everyone to understand, we’re going to kind of just do a high level overview of some of the major reoccurring Auburn events. So if you’re listening to this in, say, January, there’ll be things for spring. If you’re listening to it in July, there’ll be things in the fall and winter. So don’t, don’t think, because we’re just starting with the Veterans Day Parade, if you’re listening to this after that date, that this episode doesn’t have interesting things. So let’s talk the Veterans Day Parade, because, and I don’t have it up in front of me, actually I kind of do, the beautiful thing of internet. So it’s November 7th, and it’s the 61st year. From a history standpoint, do you know why the parade started 61 years ago? Do you know what the catalyst was in Auburn for that year to get started?

Amanda Valdez:

That is a really good question that I do not have the answer to, unfortunately.

Scott Cowan:

That’s okay. Mm hmm.

Amanda Valdez:

Other than, this event has always been a hometown Auburn feeling, and the goal is to support and honor veterans and our active military personnel. It’s very special to Auburn. It’s held the Saturday before actual Veterans Day every year, unless Veterans Day falls on a Saturday, then we hold it on that actual Veterans Day. It’s, yeah, I could go on and on about the parade, so I’ll let you.

Scott Cowan:

Well, what, one of the things, I’ve got your little blurb here that you sent over to me, right? And the thing to take away here that struck me as being unusual, your sentence says the parade features over 120 units and nearly 4,000 parade participants. That’s a lot of people.

Amanda Valdez:

It’s a lot of people.

Scott Cowan:

That’s a lot of people.

Amanda Valdez:

We utilize a lot of downtown. We work with our streets and our police department. We close a lot of streets, but we stage all the entries downtown, and it’s a beautiful parade. And this year, I guess, keeping it generic, but for sure over 120 every year, but this year we already have over 160 entries. Got some really cool, some antique military vehicles and equipment, lots of ROTC units, over 10 marching bands, motorcycle groups, classic car clubs, all of the veteran service organizations, and members from almost every branch of the military are attending. It’s, you know, bring a seat, bring a flag and bring some tissues, because you’re in for a really special parade.

Scott Cowan:

One of the things, when I see a video or hear about a Veterans Day parade, is when there are veterans present that served. World War II is probably, I don’t think there’s anyone alive that was predated the World War II service in World War II. But, you know, there’s, these individuals can be, you know, 100 years old now, and they’re hopefully still physically able to come out for that day or part of that day. And I think that’s pretty, a pretty powerful reminder to all of us that you and I probably wouldn’t be sitting here having this conversation if it wasn’t for the service of others. Let’s just put it that way. For me, this is an observation I had as a kid. My dad served in the Korean War, and I never really understood. He was in for two years, and it seemed like it had this disproportionate impact on his life. He served, he was in the Navy, and he was a storekeeper on the USS Iowa, and I didn’t get it. I just didn’t, you know, I was never in the military. It just didn’t click with me. And then as my father was aging, he was probably, I think, 80, when I took him down. We flew down to Long Beach, and I got him a tour on the Iowa, which was open for the public, but I was able to, because he served on it, they gave him a little bit more access than the general public could, right? My 80 year old father, who had had a knee replacement and was fairly crippled up, almost reverted back to like a 20 year old kid and was, like, going up and down those, the ladder. I mean, I’m struggling to go up and down. I’m ducking to go through the doorways and all this stuff. And anyway, the point is, he just, he like rewound 60 years of it, of his life, back to when he was 20. And so the connections that he made when he served were lifelong connections for him. And I think that when a community like Auburn’s doing this year after year and putting the effort in that you guys are, I mean, that 4,000 people, you’re obviously working to get that number. I mean, it’s not like 4,000 participants just show up for a parade. You’re, the community, you, Auburn is really working to make this an event that is noteworthy.

Amanda Valdez:

A lot of relationship building and outreach is done to make sure we are including every veteran and military personnel that we can, and then getting folks down there to honor them. It’s one of the best parts, I think, not necessarily in the parade, but watching the more thousands of people, spectators, fill Main Street and fist bumping veterans and shaking veteran hands and thanking people for their service. The energy downtown that this parade brings is unique, and it’s really something to see.

Scott Cowan:

So let’s keep the theme of downtown events. What other reoccurring events does Auburn have that take place in the downtown, well, I’ll call it the, air quotes, downtown core? What’s going on in Auburn, reoccurring?

Amanda Valdez:

Yeah. Good question. So the, our parks department does do the Lighted Santa Parade and Tree Lighting, which is held downtown on Main Street, same route as the Veterans Parade. This is held the first Saturday of December in the evening. So we ask that all the entries bring a lighted element, so we light up Main Street. It’s full of Auburn community groups, school groups, scouting troops, local businesses participate. It’s really fun to see all the floats. They get more and more creative every year. And at the end of the parade, everyone gathers at City Hall Plaza. The mayor comes out. We get a special visit from Santa from the North Pole. We have very good connections. And we select a tree lighter every year. That’s another special piece of that event. So one Auburn kid out of the tons that apply, the mayor randomly selects one to flip the switch and light the big tree in front of City Hall. So that concludes the event, and then we have lots of snowfall production happening, good music, and, you know, we just kick off the December season.

Scott Cowan:

Okay. What, for the kid that gets randomly selected, what age group are we talking about?

Amanda Valdez:

That’s a good question. From ages five to nine. So parents, teachers, aunts, uncles, grandmas, grandpas, anybody can submit their kid, as long as they live in Auburn, to be the tree lighter.

Scott Cowan:

So five to nine year olds, that’s a fun age for that. They’d be very excited. Okay,

Amanda Valdez:

It is. Yeah.

Scott Cowan:

So that’s running. Are there any other, what other downtown core reoccurring events happen?

Amanda Valdez:

Yeah. It’s a, full disclosure, it’s tough to talk about downtown, because we are currently under construction.

Scott Cowan:

Sure, that’s okay.

Amanda Valdez:

So we’re rebuilding our theater. So once the Auburn Avenue Theater opens back up, that’s gonna bring more downtown. There’ll be a park next to the theater, so look out for future programming and future events in that park in conjunction with theater. There’s also the Postmark Center for the Arts down there, which hosts second Saturdays, lots of art activities, drop in classes. They’ve got a really cool space. That historic building has been updated, renovated, and they have a huge variety of cultural arts and opportunities year round downtown. That’s really special. And then, not in our department, but I will mention it, the city hosts a Party on the Plaza. So that is in the downtown core, more of a Friday night band, music, beer garden vibes. I’ve taken my kids to that one too. It’s a lot of fun, families, food trucks, all the businesses open their doors downtown, so it’s a great way to see what’s down Main Street and around that area.

Scott Cowan:

And when does that run?

Amanda Valdez:

That’s a good question. It is in the summers. I believe they do it once a month, like June, July, August.

Scott Cowan:

Now, this may be a, I apologize in advance for this question, because you’re just the voice, you’re not accountable for this. Lots of communities, when we have these big events, one of the challenges for me personally is parking. You just, you know, you were talking about the Veterans Parade with 4,000 participants. You’ve got, you know, a large audience of people coming to watch the parade. How’s parking in Auburn?

Amanda Valdez:

Parking, truthfully, is not bad. It’s really not bad. There is tons and tons of free street parking, and then we’ve also got the Transit Center parking garage, which is where we tell people to park for the parades. It’s near to the end of the parade route, and it’s next to the train station. That’s also free and open for parking. Auburn is, again, construction. There is a new parking garage going up downtown also, so parking, we’ve got you covered. And I don’t think I’ve ever had to walk more than two blocks to get to anything, truly.

Scott Cowan:

But even parking is one of those things that, you know, communities, it’s a, it’s a balancing act. How does it, how does a community, you know, how do you, how do you manage that? And I wasn’t trying to put you on the spot, but it’s just, some of us, well, I could go on with my stories about parking, but anyway, we won’t.

Amanda Valdez:

Yeah, it’s a good question. It’s something people face every time.

Scott Cowan:

Right. So when we talked, you know, so what other, let’s go, let’s go through some more. Let’s, what else is reoccurring that people might not know about that? Yeah, I’m, yeah, what, let’s see, how do I want you to, how, dealer’s choice. What’s an event you want to talk about?

Amanda Valdez:

Well, we can start off at the beginning of the year. We can start off in spring.

Scott Cowan:

Okay, okay, we’ll go chronological now. All right.

Amanda Valdez:

Yeah, yeah. So if we kick our way, you know, we’re kicking out the new year. Peter Cottontrail is in the spring. This event is typically held the Friday through Monday of Easter weekend, so it could flex a little depending on when Easter is. But it is really fun and accessible for all ages and abilities. It’s a great way to get outdoors and visit new parks. It’s like a scavenger hunt. Our parks have high laminated bunnies, not real, not real bunnies, laminated paper bunnies, in tons of parks around Auburn. And then you get a scorecard, either online or you can pick it up at our community center, and you mark off the bunnies that you find throughout the parks. You turn it in for a chance to win some cool prizes, which local businesses will often support this event and donate prizes. So that’s really fun, but it’s a great way to see our parks. We have over 40 parks in Auburn. Yeah, so I would challenge you to visit all of them. I have not, but that would be a fun challenge.

Scott Cowan:

Which, putting you on the spot, which park haven’t you visited yet? Give me an example of a park.

Amanda Valdez:

Which park haven’t I visited?

Scott Cowan:

Now, your boss is listening to this, so you know, you’re probably not… okay.

Amanda Valdez:

I didn’t. I know, I know. Well, I haven’t, I visited. Okay, okay. Cheating a little. I haven’t been back to Cedar Lanes since we built the new pump track. The Cedar Lanes has an awesome… bunnies at Cedar Lanes. So it also has a trail looped through it, so you could walk around if you wanted to as well. So that’s my one that I haven’t been back to.

Scott Cowan:

Okay, okay, all right. Now, with the kids, want to go on the pump track? Yours?

Amanda Valdez:

Totally, totally. Kids. Oh…

Scott Cowan:

No, your kids. Wait, okay.

Amanda Valdez:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Scott Cowan:

So you got to bring, you got to bring the family out then, basically.

Amanda Valdez:

Gotta bring the family, yeah. Bike, skateboards, scooters, it’s all fun. So…

Scott Cowan:

Okay. All right. So you got 40 parks in Auburn. That’s, that actually is quite a bit. So what’s next after, up to the Easter weekend?

Amanda Valdez:

After the Easter weekend, we start looking at Earth Day. So we host our annual Clean Sweep event, which is around Earth Day. Volunteers sign up to clean up, beautify and restore spaces in Auburn, mostly park spaces, but we also look at the downtown, from flower planting, painting, woodworking, general cleanup and everyone’s favorite, wink wink, removing invasive plants, removing blackberries. But we have a fantastic parks maintenance crew who helps identify those areas of need, and then we work to get hundreds and hundreds of volunteers to, who show up in droves and are eager and ready to work in Auburn parks. So it’s really exciting, it’s a lot of fun, and then…

Scott Cowan:

Why is it that I’m cynical, that I think your parks department’s, like, looking at those, and they go, well, leave those blackberries until Earth Day. We’ll just leave those until… No, I know. They’re…

Amanda Valdez:

No, no, because the blackberries, man, you can’t, you can’t cut them enough. They’re just, yeah. And, you know, I mean, we have a neighbor’s house that bumps up to a park, and if neighbor has blackberries, then the park is gonna have blackberries. So, and…

Scott Cowan:

Yeah. Yeah. That’s, that, they are, they are so invasive, you’re absolutely correct. Okay, so now that we’ve done some cleanup, what else we’re gonna do for fun?

Amanda Valdez:

You’re gonna start thinking about your pets and your furry friends and your furry family members, because the Saturday before Memorial Day weekend, we host our annual Pet Palooza event. This event is huge. It is super fun for pet lovers and your furry family members. It’s held at Game Farm Park and includes live entertainment, over 150 pet related vendors. We’re talking nonprofits, we’re talking veterinaries, you know, anything pet related, crafts, arts and crafts that are pet related, there at Pet Palooza. It’s coupled with a 3K, 5K dog trot, which is really fun to see all of the puppies running. It’s so sweet. It includes an agility area for dogs, we’ll get a petting zoo, we have pet contests throughout the day, there’s art zones, there’s just a lot to do. So bring your leash, license and well behaved pets down for a whole day of fun.

Scott Cowan:

Okay, all right. I’m just envisioning my dog doing that, and laughing at the 1K or 5K run with my dog. Yeah, that wouldn’t, you know, that won’t happen.

Amanda Valdez:

Some people bring strollers. They push their dogs in a stroller.

Scott Cowan:

My dog’s 140 pounds. I’m not gonna put him in a stroller.

Amanda Valdez:

That’s right, I forgot he was a big dog.

Scott Cowan:

I’m certainly not gonna run with him in a stroller. Yeah, he’s a big dog. Oh, that’d be, that’d actually be, he probably really liked that, actually. Okay, all right, so we’ve gone out and we’ve exercised our animals. What’s next?

Amanda Valdez:

And then we get through the school year in Auburn, and at the end of our school district year, we host Kids Day. Kids Day is truly free, which I think is rare. I mean, I’m a mom of four, and it’s hard to find stuff that we can all go do. So Kids Day is free. It’s held at Les Gove Park, right as the school year ends in Auburn. And there are over 100 vendors, majority of them have hands on activities for the kids. So while you’re talking to somebody about potentially getting them into childcare, there’s an activity for them to do onsite. While your kid might be interested in Taekwondo, they can test a trial, and maybe they’ll break a board that day. You know, everything, bubble zones and buildings and arts and crafts play areas. And that’s just the vendors. We also have free inflatables and a touch a truck area, a fire engine, there’s live entertainment, and just, I mean, I could go on and on, it’s tons of free stuff at Les Gove Park, which also has the splash pad and is next to the library. I think I mentioned that already, but I do love the library.

Scott Cowan:

Yeah, no, that’s cool. I’m just, you’re talking about breaking a board, and I’m like going, and then there’s EMTs with activities for your children, like bandaging and splints. Okay, sorry.

Amanda Valdez:

Yeah, right there. Yep.

Scott Cowan:

Yeah, perfect, I’m not being serious. All right, so we’ve tuckered the kids out, and because they, they’re worn out from a year of school. Yeah, okay.

Amanda Valdez:

And then you start thinking about family. Yeah, and then we head right into 4th of July, right around the corner. So we do host the 4th of July event on the 4th of July every year. It’s also at Les Gove Park. We fill the park with vendors, and we have two entertainment stages. There’s also a car show at this event, which is really fun. There’s a food court, and we do sell wristbands, which gets you unlimited access to all the rides. There’s over 10 inflatables. There’s a train ride, mini golf. This one, you can stay and play all day. Lots of families plan ahead, and they’ll bring blankets and tables and chairs and stay and play all day. But go home for the fireworks before it gets dark. This one ends early in the day, so you have a lot of fun during the day, and then you can go elsewhere and offer them for fireworks.

Scott Cowan:

All right, so we, we’re now in the midpoint of summer. What’s, what are we doing? Do you have anything in August? Okay.

Amanda Valdez:

Midpoint. We have a fun run in August. We call it an almost 5K fun run, because it’s five loops around Les Gove Park, and it’s just, like, I guess 1200 feet short of a 5K. But that one’s really fun. It’s our poker run. Every lap you do in the park, you stop and you draw a poker card, and at the end of the night, the top eight hands win a prize. Again, it could be a prize from a local business, so that’s really fun. And it’s easy and open for everybody. So you have 90 minutes to walk, run, stroll, hop, whatever your fancy is. So it’s really accessible and for all ages, which is really fun too.

Scott Cowan:

In the poker run, of it is random, so you don’t have to be a in shape person to race around and grab, you know, and win because of your pace. Okay, all right.

Amanda Valdez:

Yeah, yeah, it’s not a time…

Scott Cowan:

Okay. All right, so we’ve got that in August, though. I mean, it’s, I’m kidding. It’s hot, and who wants to run, but…

Amanda Valdez:

I know, you know, but we do hold it later in the day, so the sun is actively setting as it happens. Usually during check in, I have to wear, like, sunglasses, because I can’t see where the sun is, right in my eye line.

Scott Cowan:

Okay, okay. You might talk to the event coordinator about moving your booth and just putting out after for you. All right, so now that we’re, oh, we’ve tuckered the kids, the animals, and now the humans, what we got going on in fall, right?

Amanda Valdez:

Well, in the fall, then we get to the Veterans Parade, which we did talk about, and then we’ve got Santa Parade in the winter. And then we also have our annual gingerbread contest. This one brings a lot of holiday cheer. Individuals, families, scouting troops, businesses have the chance to create a magical holiday display. The contest is held at the Auburn Community and Event Center in early December, typically the first two weeks of December. It’s free and open to the public, and we have over 10 entries that are on display. Every year they blow my mind on how creative and talented people are, and the public can vote on their favorite, and that we’ll have winners at the end of the contest. The first year I hosted this event, I was fully expecting just the little graham cracker houses. No, no, no, no. It was all out. There was a tree house, there was a lighthouse, things move, things light up. I mean, every year it’s just really exciting to see.

Scott Cowan:

Were there any, we kind of, we kind of jumped, so we hit August, but any September or October stuff that we might have overlooked? Aren’t you guys just, are you guys taking a break? Yeah, I’m kidding. Yeah, okay.

Amanda Valdez:

Not, not, go ahead. Well, we don’t take a break, but we just ramp up with our recreation programming, really. We’ve also got our senior center that’s active year round. So in the fall, you know, we start picking up our fitness memberships again. We have wellness programs, specialized recreation programs, sports and leagues, trips and outdoor programs for teens and youth. You know, we’ve got our bike program happening all the time. Auburn has a golf course also that we maintain. It’s an 18 hole course near the Green River, so that’s year round as well. I think I’m getting into year round stuff, for sure. And then, you know, our community center is active all year round, more so, I think, in the fall, because when we hit summer, with all the events and summer camps we do, I had the number, yeah, we have over 140 summer camp options every year. So then once, yeah, so that takes up most of our rental spaces in the community center, but then we run into fall, and our community center is booked every weekend for rentals. So it’s a great space to host your wedding or your birthday party or whatever celebration. Plus, you know, if you’re in the community rooms, you can see the playground from Les Gove Park, which is nice as well. Let the kids go out, keep the doors open. It’s a great space to host your events.

Scott Cowan:

You mentioned the library a couple of times, and you said you like the library. What is it about the Auburn library that you like?

Amanda Valdez:

I do like the library. Our Auburn library is a really good partner with us. They support all of our events. They come to the farmers market. They come to Kids Day. You know, they sometimes will be able to bring out extra entertainment or activities that we otherwise wouldn’t have access to. I just think they’re a great resource, personally. They have a ton of programs and free things, and just a great way for people to get resources that they need.

Scott Cowan:

Now, I’m gonna throw a question at you. I didn’t, not that I prepare you for anything. You know, I don’t typically prepare my guests. We have kind of the talking points, right? We’re gonna talk about events, but I’m gonna, I’m gonna put you on the spot now. I’m gonna, I want you to put, think about this as, wanting to think of yourself like a tour guide. Okay. And you’ve got, you’ve got a friend from college is coming into town. They’ve never been to Auburn before. And it’s gonna be like, say, a Saturday. And your job is to go show them Auburn, because that’s where you work, you’re proud of it. How are you gonna spend a Saturday? I’ll let you figure out if you want to do a Saturday, a half day, you know, in Auburn. You can do the morning if you want, you can do midday, I let you pick the parameters. How are you, what are you gonna spotlight in Auburn?

Amanda Valdez:

That’s a good question. So, if they’ve never been to Auburn, we have to go see the Crow With Fries.

Scott Cowan:

Oh no, okay, all right.

Amanda Valdez:

So we’ll start at Les Gove Park, and we’ll park in the parking lot in front of the community center, so that we can walk all the way around the park. I think if you do one loop, two loops, maybe it’s a half a mile. Do a couple loops in the park, get our steps in early in the morning, see the Crow, take some pictures, super cute. Then we can head over to the museum, because that’s free, open on Saturday. Learn a little bit more about Auburn’s history. Perhaps they have something cool in their rotating exhibit. We can say hello to the senior center, although I don’t think they’re open on Saturdays. My apology, senior center. And then we can pop in and use the restroom at the community center, but also, while we’re there, we could do a drop in fitness class if we wanted to. We could take Zumba, we could take Tai Chi, we could fill our early morning, keep getting our steps in, be active, wellness programs. We also have, like, a smaller fitness, we call it the fitness center, kind of like a gym here for our fitness members as well. And then we should probably head and get some coffee, because it’s still early. So then let’s drive downtown, let’s park at the Transit Center parking garage, let’s walk over to Gosanko’s, because not only do they have coffee, which, I’m a black coffee drinker, I don’t know, I don’t know.

Scott Cowan:

As everyone should be, in my opinion. But yeah, okay, yeah.

Amanda Valdez:

And then, you know, we can pick up some chocolates or some ice cream for later in the day.

Scott Cowan:

Ice cream, you’re gonna carry the ice cream? I’m gonna, I’m gonna call you on this one. You’re picking up ice cream in the morning to carry around? Hmm.

Amanda Valdez:

I guess we have. Yes. Yes. My mistake.

Scott Cowan:

Yeah. Hmm. I think we’re picking up the ice cream to consume right now, for breakfast, is what it sounds like to me, with, but I’m in. All right.

Amanda Valdez:

You can take a shirt with our black coffee. Gosh. And then, you know, let’s see what else in Auburn, if I was here for a Saturday. We’d probably go visit more parks, because, you know, if you’ve got a dog, you can head over to Roegner Park, which has an off leash dog park area, and the trail along White River that also connects to Game Farm. So that’s kind of cool too. I do like being outside. My family and I, we are park people, work in a parks department, so very applicable. And then, okay, here you go. Wrap up your evening with a show hosted by our theater department. We don’t have a home right now. We will have the theater built and be back downtown, but right now you can catch a show up at Green River, or I believe they use Riverside High School as well sometimes. So we are still running our Bravo Performing Arts series.

Scott Cowan:

So what is the approximate ETA on the Auburn theater’s reopening?

Amanda Valdez:

Yeah, good question. I want to say late spring, early summer of 2027.

Scott Cowan:

Oh, so, I mean, wow.

Amanda Valdez:

It’s right around the corner.

Scott Cowan:

Because when did that? Yeah, that was pretty fast, because what happened to the old theater? Did a wall give way, was that? The reason I’m kind of vague on this, a friend of mine was supposed to be performing there, and then like the next, like the day before, is when the building gave up.

Amanda Valdez:

Condemned. Yeah, yeah. So we had fires downtown near the theater. Then we had flooding downtown, which I do think impacted the theater at some level. And then, as they were cleaning up after the flooding, it was deemed uninhabitable.

Scott Cowan:

Yeah, it was unsafe, yeah.

Amanda Valdez:

Yeah, it was a rather old building. I’m not sure the entire history. So then the city said, okay, let’s rebuild, because we want to bring back the arts. We want to keep the arts in Auburn.

Scott Cowan:

I think that’s really important. I really, you know, when a community loses an old building and it stays an empty lot, or, dare I say, they turn into a parking garage in certain communities, that’s unfortunate to me. It’s like, and I’m a big fan of old buildings. I think they’re really cool. Not every old building needs to be saved. I’m not, you know, but a lot of times, it, I appreciate when the community decides to, like, replace that building with, like, use. Let’s just say that. So a theater with the theater, I like that. Okay, not that anyone asked my opinion on that one, but that’s just my thing. But that’s because, okay, so this is the other interesting thing, that you and I, when we started talking, I shared with you that my great grandfather was the mayor of Auburn, and you got back to me with some information that I wasn’t aware of. I knew basically that my great, my great grandfather was the mayor of Auburn. I didn’t know what years, but it was 1929 and 1931, which is, you know, if you know, for those of you that know your history, the Great Depression. So, you know, what a time to lead a community. I can’t imagine anybody wanting to be the mayor of any community during the Great Depression. But one of the things that you provide with me that I didn’t know is that, you know, his last name was McKee. So he was a strong proponent of buying Auburn, which, given the era, makes sense, right? I mean, let’s keep those dollars that we do have local to, you know, keep the economy going. And the one thing I remembered my grandfather telling me as a kid, and I couldn’t find the photograph, I wanted to show it to you today, but I couldn’t, I haven’t found it yet, is that my great grandfather was in a parade in Auburn, but he had owned an Auburn car, which wasn’t made in Auburn, by the way, folks. We’re just gonna use the word Auburn, Auburn, Auburn now, but there was a brand of car for a while, and they were pretty, pretty spectacular in the, in the late 20s, early 30s. They were pretty cool cars. And, but, and you’d provided the information that he was the first person in Auburn to actually have an Auburn automobile, which I thought was kind of an interesting, an interesting thing. So that’s my family connection to Auburn, you know, 100 years ago. It’s a little, it’s a little, it’s interesting, it’s, and I have his desk here in my office. There was always this desk in my, in my house growing up, in the garage. It was a cool desk. Why is it sitting in the garage? And my mom and dad just out here. And as I went away to college, I took the desk and used it, and I’ve kept it all these years with me. And it’s not a desk I can sit at. People were much smaller than, I had a typing, it has a, you lift, there’s a center panel, and it opens up, and you could put a typewriter. And I had to remove some paneling to get my knees underneath the desk, because I’m tall, but I have that. And then I have some other, my great uncle was somehow involved in the railroads in Auburn. I’m very unclear as to what he did. And then the last, you know, loose connection to the Auburn area for my family is that my uncle was at one time the park ranger out at Flaming Geyser. And I remember as a young kid going out to see my aunt, uncle and my cousin, and we were riding snowmobiles around the park. So yeah, I thought, I just remember that being, and I was probably maybe 10 years old, and riding a snowmobile around the park back in the day. So there you go. There’s my connections to Auburn. Yeah. Yeah. All right. So I always ask my guests some questions, and you kind of already answered it, but I’m going to repeat the question now, cause I gave, you know, I wanted you to tell me about Auburn a little bit. Okay. Put you on the spot. Tell me two really cool stores in Auburn that you think people should hear about.

Amanda Valdez:

Good question. Two really cool stores in Auburn.

Scott Cowan:

To you, but what, Amanda, these are gonna be Amanda approved stores. What do you think? What should people see?

Amanda Valdez:

Well, does the farmers market count as a store?

Scott Cowan:

Yeah, well, no, no, okay.

Amanda Valdez:

Okay, fair, fair, fair, fair. So in Auburn, there’s Aura Song Gifts, which just has some really unique, I want to, what’s the right word I should use? Mystical, magical crystals, rocks, plants. That one’s really special, so that one’s fun. And then, probably, I would say unique to Auburn is Mando’s Disc Golf.

Scott Cowan:

Okay, I’ve been in Mando’s. I’ve been in Mando’s. Mm hmm.

Amanda Valdez:

Yeah. And we have a wonderful disc golf course at Game Farm Wilderness, which I have been on the course. I’m not an expert at disc golf by any means, so the trail is really fun to walk. And I’m sure if you were into disc golf, it’s a real, I’ve heard it’s a really fun course. I am not a expert, if, I, it’s not my thing. Yeah.

Scott Cowan:

It’s not your… But Mando’s is a cool store. I got to tell you, I went in there. I interviewed a Far From Par, they’re up in Bellingham, a disc golf store up in Bellingham, which is a very cool store up there. And I was down, and the last time I was in Auburn, buddy of mine, we stopped at Mando’s, and yeah, pretty, pretty interesting. For those of you that aren’t into disc golf, you’d be amazed how many varieties of discs you can buy now. It’s just hundreds of them. It’s pretty cool. And he’s got a great selection there. And he’s, in, the guy we talked to was super friendly and nice. And yeah, that was pretty cool. All right. Okay, so it’s coffee time. You got to give me a coffee shop, and you’re a black coffee drinker. So I want you to tell me, you’re gonna pick the shop, and you’re gonna tell me why, for you, you pick it.

Amanda Valdez:

I’m gonna, I might cheat on this one too, but coffee grounds in Auburn, special to Auburn, we have Z Street Coffee Roasters. I buy my coffee beans from there. They can customize your coffee beans, light, medium, dark. I like the blonde, I like the more caffeine, and they have a variety of beans to choose from. It’s all ran out of their house, their home business on Z Street in Auburn. So that one, that one’s really good. They also are really cool people. They support our Senior Activity Center, and they donate coffee beans to them regularly. Yeah, so now the senior center has really good tasting coffee, and I think they will attest to, since they made the switch, it is very tasty for a black cup of coffee. It’s delicious. Is that fair?

Scott Cowan:

There we go. It’s like, yeah, that’s a great answer. I love that. So it’s lunchtime. Where should I go grab lunch?

Amanda Valdez:

There’s lots of options for lunch food in Auburn. Oh man, okay. Well, classic, Oddfellas. Kids sit down and watch all the games, have a drink or two, but then they’ve got some really good pub food, hearty meals, good salads. Oddfellas, right down there on Main Street, kitty corner, I’d say, from City Hall. And then there is one newer business in Auburn that I haven’t been into yet, but Pie Style Bakery, that is right across from City Hall, and I have heard good things about their baked goods and their pastries. They have sweet and savory. You could also get a cup of coffee there too. So if you’re down there for the Veterans Parade, pop in, get a cup of coffee and a baked good, and come watch the parade. Okay.

Scott Cowan:

All right. So my third and final question is the one you promised you would answer, no matter how hard it was going to be for you to answer. And I’m afraid that you may have already answered it. So here we go. Remember, you promised you’d play along, right? Cake or pie? And why?

Amanda Valdez:

Okay, that’s a good question. Oh man, I’m gonna go with pie, because it feels more unique, in that there’s less occasions where you would make it at home. So it’s more special to have it when you do have it.

Scott Cowan:

Interesting. So follow up question, what type of pie?

Amanda Valdez:

Apple.

Scott Cowan:

Now I’m going to have this running tally in my head of what the guests say, right? And I will say that you are in the most common, you know, category. Apple pie is kind of the common, and no, no, no, no, no. There, there’s very few wrong answers to the cake or pie question, by the way. And, you know, I strongly believe that pumpkin is the wrong answer. That’s me. But this is a safe space. People can say that, and I will, I will allow them. But no, in all seriousness, I think that the other question I would like to ask you is, when you were growing up, did you have more cake or more pie?

Amanda Valdez:

We definitely had more cake, I would say.

Scott Cowan:

Okay. I have this, I have this, I had this premise that people’s choices were based on what they had growing up, that you’re, you were influenced by your family’s traditions, if you will. And I keep bringing that up, that that’s my thesis, and it’s been disproved every, every, every guest does. It’s just like, I’m, I refuse to give it up, but it’s not the, the data is not backing me up on that. Okay. So you are black coffee and apple pie. Yeah, that’s a, that’s a solid one too. I mean, not this, that’s just, yeah. I mean, I’m going to,

Amanda Valdez:

Can’t go wrong.

Scott Cowan:

Yeah, no, you really can’t. All right. So we have talked about Auburn. We have talked about a bunch of events. Have we overlooked anything that we need to share?

Amanda Valdez:

That’s a good question. I think just, you know, even if you’re not, we’d love for you to come to Auburn. We’d love for you to check out Parks, Arts and Recreation Department. But if you’re not in Auburn and you’re, you’re looking to explore Washington, your Parks Department probably has a lot of offerings that you maybe didn’t know about. So check out Parks, Arts and Recreation.

Scott Cowan:

That’s a great answer, actually. Yeah. Because every community has that office, you know, in it. And they are doing things. One of the nice things about doing what I’m doing is I get to, I get to talk about, you know, every, not every, but different communities. I’m not always talking about Auburn, right? I’m not, you know, and next week, I’ll be talking about some other place, and that’s fine. But what I really like, and what I think I want everybody to really embrace, is that if you just spend a little bit of time looking in your own backyard, almost every community in Washington State’s got some really cool stuff happening that you’re probably not aware of, whether that’s Auburn or, you know, Renton or Ellensburg, anywhere. There’s always really cool stuff happening, and looking at, like you just said, the arts and outdoor parks and all that, that’s a really good idea, to look there to see what is the community putting together, and go check it out. So yeah. And so, it’s like I said early when we started this, it’s pretty early today. So what’s the rest of your day look like? What’s, look, give me the rest of the events coordinator’s day on the job. What do you got to do? Mm hmm.

Amanda Valdez:

A lot of stuff, you know, it’s, we’re less than a month away from the Veterans Parade. So that is my primary focus right now. We’re registering dignitaries, we’re confirming logistics, we’re making sure emergency management plan is in place and everybody’s safe, and that, you know, all of the fun elements that make up that parade are coming together, and confirming and reconfirming. So it’s a lot of fun. There’s a lot of small hidden gems in there. I hope you stop by and see them.

Scott Cowan:

Awesome. Well, Amanda, thank you so much for sitting down with me this morning, and I didn’t see you drinking any coffee, so I’m a little disappointed, but I’ve been enjoying my morning, a morning coffee, not the morning coffee, a one of many morning coffees. And I’m looking forward to my next time I get into Auburn, looking at, number one, going to the Crow. I got, I got to check that out. You’re, you’ve sold that, you saw now. I don’t, I’m afraid maybe you’ve oversold it. I mean, I, okay, cool.

Amanda Valdez:

Don’t think so. It’s like over 40 feet tall. It’s huge. Yeah.

Scott Cowan:

Oh wow. You shouldn’t have told me that, cause then I would have been really blown away. Now, now, now I have scale. See, now I have scale, but that’s, wow, that’s, okay, very cool. So, well, wait, wait, wait, let’s, and this is the danger of the podcast, as I always, at the end of it, always come up with something else. So here’s the question. What do you know about this crow? You just said, okay, so you just said it’s a crow, it’s French fries, earlier on, and now you disclose it’s over 40 feet tall. What? Give me the who, the what and the why of that sculpture. Oh.

Amanda Valdez:

Okay. The crow, I wish I remembered what year it came over, because I want to say it was pre COVID that the crow was built. It is a public art piece. It is a giant, I want to say, metal sculpture. Its eyes light up at night, and

Scott Cowan:

That’s not creepy. That’s not creepy at all. Okay.

Amanda Valdez:

it has a box of French fries laying down next to it, so you could sit on that as a bench. And it’s a nod to the former Big Daddy’s, that was where the Crow site is. So the green space and part of the park, it was Big Daddy’s Drive In, I think that was what it was called. Yeah, where you would, like, drive your car up and people would serve you your burger, what have you. So it’s a nod to that historic piece of Auburn.

Scott Cowan:

Okay. So it was a, it was a public art piece that was commissioned, and, you know, and, okay, cool. Do you know the artist? Were they a local artist?

Amanda Valdez:

I do not, but I could follow up and find out that information for you.

Scott Cowan:

If you follow up, we’ll put it in the show notes. Just, just, I’m just out of curiosity. And you, now you’ve really, I got to say, you know, I’m torn. I wish you wouldn’t have said that it’s 40 feet tall, because then I would have been just, I would have been completely blown away. But now, on a different level, I’m even more intrigued to go see this thing, because that’s, I mean, that’s pretty, that’s pretty crazy, actually. And the fact that the eyes light up is not creepy at all. No, not, and I’m just kidding. Awesome. Well, Amanda, thank you so much for sitting down with me today, and keep up, please help keep your community busy and active and a great place for the people that live in Auburn to get out and enjoy. But also, you know, your neighboring communities, you know, should, people from Kent should cross over into Auburn. People from Sumner should cross, you know. I mean, you know, I’m all about getting out and checking out the region that we live in, and there’s really cool stuff, and I’ve just, now we’ve just added Auburn to the list of things we know a little bit more about.

Amanda Valdez:

Well, thank you for having me. I appreciate it. And yeah, we’ll keep Auburn busy.