Tigard proclaims July Parks & Recreation Month and designates July 4 celebration

The Tigard City Council issued two proclamations during the meeting: declaring July as National Parks and Recreation Month and proclaiming July 4, 2025 as a city celebration of Independence Day.

Rick Gruen, Parks Infrastructure and Green Infrastructure Manager, and Ellen Brown, chair of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, presented the Parks and Recreation Month proclamation and described a slate of July events including park pop-ups at Universal Plaza, Summer Lake and Blueberry Hill Park; trivia at Cook Family Park; music in the plaza at Universal Plaza on Thursday evenings; Friday activities at the Fanno Creek House; a youth track meet at Fowler Middle School; and an outdoor arts explorers program at Dirkson Nature Park. Gruen said the city has about 608 acres of parkland, greenways and natural areas and invited residents to check the city's website for full event details.

Ellen Brown described the parks program's recovery from earlier budget pressures and praised the parks staff's work to grow recreation programs with limited resources.

Mayor Heidi Loub read the Independence Day proclamation, which commemorated the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, referenced civic ideals and encouraged residents to attend the city's "Tigard Through the Decades" July 4 celebration at Cook Family Park. A council member with ties to Norway described the holiday as a time for reflection and unity.

Both proclamations were presented without public comment; the council took no formal vote beyond adopting them as proclamations on the agenda.