Cheers & Jeers, Aug. 10

Cheers for the fabulous National Night Out event put on by our city and numerous sponsors each year. Appreciated the friendly welcome and interaction with our local police force! The idea of combining Night Out with the Summer Concert Series at Skansie Park was a good one, but the Civic Center offers some advantages over Skansie Park — unlimited, kid-friendly space, including the on-site skate park, space for the car show, police dog presentation, etc. The booths and children’s activities were limited this year, presumably due to space. Crime prevention was the foundational principle of the original Blockwatch Night Out; there was an absence of literature and promotion of this topic. Nevertheless, well done!

Jeers to all those who did not vote in the recent primary election. Out of a total population of 9,110 (yes, some of those are not of voting age) only 1,547 people voted. Certainly there are more than 1,547 registered voters in the city. Is this because all council positions are at-large positions and the city area that currently do not have a council member representative don’t vote, or perhaps are unaware they reside inside the city limits? Or is it because they feel the council only cares about the downtown basin area?

Cheers to the person in the car ahead of me on Aug. 3 on 82nd Ave NW as you saw a stray, collared dog in the road. I saw you stop and walk toward the dog. I KNOW you made the call and got the dog to the owner, because I saw that very dog, “Baby girl,” with its owner at the off leash park some 40 minutes later. I’m relieved, and the owner’s overjoyed. Well done, compassionate one!

Cheers to the delightful server, Cynthia, at the Green House restaurant in Uptown Gig Harbor! She put up with our out-of-town guests special food needs and jokes on a hot August night like a pro! Thank you so much.

Cheers to the 20 wonderful swimmers who raised $20,564 for GHPFISH by swimming Colvos Passage. Starting on Vashon Island, swimmers braved the cold water and currents to swim to Pt. Richmond. What a great way for neighbors to help neighbors.

Jeers to the person who — under the guise of claiming they were blocking traffic sightlines along Harborview Dr. — illegally knocked down and defaced political campaign signs. We are better than this, Gig Harbor! This nonsense needs to stop.

To submit a cheer or a jeer: Email cheersandjeers@gateline.com. Jeers directed toward individuals or businesses will not be accepted.

This story was originally published August 10, 2017 at 11:38 AM with the headline "Cheers & Jeers, Aug. 10."