BRIER — The city of Brier celebrates its golden anniversary this week.
Wednesday marks 50 years since Brier incorporated. An open house is planned from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday at City Hall.
“It’s a milestone,” Mayor Bob Colinas said.
Minus new housing developments and more parks and open space, not much has changed, he said.
Colinas has been trying to capture more of the city’s history, he said. People are welcome to help if they have old photos or other information.
The city was incorporated because people “wanted to maintain that residential quality of life,” he said. “It hasn’t changed.”
The mayor’s parents moved to Brier in 1958, years before the Feb. 11, 1965, incorporation. “I’m a local kid,” he said.
City events in the coming months will feature the anniversary theme in some way, the mayor said.
That includes the yet-to-be-scheduled dedication for the new five-acre Hickory Way Park, part of Snohomish County’s Conservation Futures program.
Crews will be adding trails to the park, too, said Rich Maag, the city’s public works foreman who’s worked there 35 years. He oversees the maintenance of about 27 miles of roads and a dozen acres of grassy areas. He remembers when the city got street sweepers.
In the 1970s, back when Maag still worked in construction, he remembers driving down Poplar Way.
“It had that country feel to it,” he said. “Even though Lynnwood was only a few miles away, it was like you were out in the middle of nowhere in this nice country area. It’s still that little bit of country.”
Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
