What’s Happening for July 4

Wednesday

Tumwater Independence Day Parade: Tumwater will again host its parade beginning at 11 a.m. at the corner of Capitol Boulevard and Lee Street. The parade then heads south on Capitol to Israel Road, where it turns right, continues past City Hall and ends at Israel Road and Linderson Way. Some road closures will begin as early as 8:30 a.m. Information: 360-754-4160.

Tumwater Artesian Family Festival & Thunder Valley Fireworks Show: Bring the family to the Tumwater Valley Golf Course for music, food, games and activities before the big fireworks show at 10:15 p.m. Gates open at 6 p.m. Admission is free.

Littlerock 4th of July parade: The owners of the Littlerock Saloon organize this community parade at 6 p.m. every Independence Day. Anyone can be in it and there’s no sign-up sheet — just get in line behind the old fire truck. The only rule: No noisy motor bikes because lots of kids with horses, goats and dogs participate.

Thursday

Finding meteorites with a laptop: On average, a meteorite falls on Earth once a day, and amateur scientists now have unprecedented capability to find meteorite falls using publicly available data. NOAA’s Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, Grays Harbor County Marine Resource Committee and Grays Harbor College will host a free talk at 10 a.m. at Grays Harbor College by Marc D. Fries. Fries is the cosmic dust curator at NASA Johnson Space Center, and he’ll discuss why meteorite falls are important, how they occur, and where and when they happen. The talk also will feature the recent large meteorite fall into the waters of Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, and the Ocean Exploration Trust expedition that plans to search for meteorites on the sea floor. The lecture will be in the Schermer Building, Room 4134, at Grays Harbor College, 1620 Edward P. Smith Drive, Aberdeen. Information: sanctuaries.noaa.gov.

Alex Zerbe’s Comedy and Juggling: See Zerbe juggle bowling balls and flaming torches, and slice vegetables in half with a flying playing card, at the Olympia Timberland Library, 313 Eighth Ave. SE. This event is from 10:15 to 11 a.m., before library hours, so no other library services will be available. Information: trl.org.

Friday

Celebrate the Dalai Lama’s birthday: The Nalanda Institute Buddhist Meditation Center is hosting a birthday celebration honoring the 14th Dalai Lama starting at 7 p.m. at The Olympia Center, 222 Columbia St. NW. The program will feature a short talk by Loppon Jamyang Tsultrim, chanting by Loppon Jamyang and Lama Lungrik, and a 50-minute video of the Dalai Lama. Free. Light refreshments will be provided.

Senior Services for South Sound Town Hall: At 10 a.m. at the Olympia Senior Center, 222 Columbia St NW, Ron Thomas of Thomas Architecture Studios will talk about the active projects in downtown, including The Lourana and the Market Flats. Open to the public. Information: call Maria at 360-586-6181.

Friday & Saturday

Buddhist teacher leads two Olympia events: The Olympia LGBTQ Meditation group is sponsoring two events with Tuere Sala, a retired prosecuting attorney who is now a co-guiding teacher at Seattle Insight Meditation Society. She is an advocate for practitioners living with high stress, past trauma and difficulties sitting still. She will be at the Olympia Friends' Meeting House, 3201 Boston Harbor Road NE, from 7-9 p.m. Friday; the suggested event donation is $5-$20, plus a suggested donation for the teacher. On Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., she will offer a day of mindfulness and insight meditation practice; the suggested event donation is $10-$30, plus a suggested donation for the teacher. No registration is needed — pay at the door. Bring a lunch. Information: 206-280-7593.

Saturday

South Sound BBQ Festival: The finger lickin’ festival at Lacey’s Huntamer Park, 618 Woodland Square Loop, includes a professional cook-off sanctioned by the Pacific Northwest BBQ Association plus an assortment of food vendors and non-food vendors from around South Sound. The event will have live entertainment, kids activities and an eating contest. Admission and parking are free. Festival hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; beer garden hours are noon to 8 p.m. Information: southsoundbbqfestival.com or contact the Lacey South Sound Chamber of Commerce at 360-491-4141.

​​West Bay Wood stewardship event: Join the city of Olympia and the Olympia Coalition for Ecosystem Preservation for a day in the shade from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at West Bay Woods on Rogers Street Northwest. The group will work to remove English ivy and blackberry to prepare for rain garden construction and native understory planting this fall. The work will be done at the Hays Avenue entrance to avoid any disturbance to the heron rookery. Park on Rogers and walk a block down to the eastern end of Hays, where you’ll see refreshments. Gloves and tools are provided. No experience necessary.

Washington State Senior Games ballroom dance competition: The dancing begins at 11 a.m. at the Olympia Senior Center, 222 Columbia St. NW. You can watch couples compete for free in 20 different dances, including the waltz, tango, rumba, samba and jive.

Sunday

Natural History of Orcas talk: Sam Kaviar, owner of Kayak Nisqually and a former expedition kayak guide in the San Juan Islands, will give an introductory talk on the natural history of Orcas in the Salish Sea from 5-6:30 p.m. at the Nisqually Reach Nature Center, 4949 D. Milluhr Drive NE, Olympia. He will touch on Orca ecology, their ecotypes and evolution, their social behavior, the history of human-orca interactions, conservation concerns, and updated regulations regarding watching them. This talk can serve as a preliminary talk for the Talk on the Snake River Dams the following evening by Jim Waddell. Information: https://www.facebook.com/events/244904312928762/ or https://www.facebook.com/events/241508389738579/

Tuesday

Christian Women’s Connection luncheon: Join the monthly luncheon with inspirational speaker Marlene Pettit who will share her story “Courage as a Survivor” at noon at Panorama Seventeen51 Restaurant, 1751 Circle Drive SE, Lacey. The Ruby Street Quilters are the special feature and Kenny Lochnar will provide entertainment. Lunch is $16. For reservations, call Sylvia at 360-943-0627 by the Friday morning before the luncheon.

Democratic Study Group at Panorama July Forum: “Is ‘America First’ a Foreign Policy?” will be the topic for speakers Richard Langill, emeritus professor of political science at Saint Martin’s University, and Sandra Kaiser, vice president for college relations at The Evergreen State College and former State Department official, from 1:30-2:30 p.m. in the lower level of the Quinault Auditorium at Panorama, 1835 Circle Lane SE, Lacey. All are welcome. Information: 360-438-5454.

Tuesday through July 20

SmileMobile dental clinic: Call 888-286-9105 today to schedule a dental appointment from July 10-20 when the Smilemobile will be at the Olympia Obstetrics & Gynecology, 615 Lilly Road NE. Appointments are open to pregnant and postpartum women, as well as children and teens. Services may include exam, X-rays, cleanings, sealants, fillings and simple extractions. The mobile clinic accepts Medicaid (Apple Health, Provider scale One) and offers sliding fees.