 The Auburn Veterans Day Parade is a day when thousands of you will join us on the streets of downtown, perhaps umbrellas in hand and parkas wrapped tight, to watch and cheer over 150 parade groups march through the streets.
I hope I’ll see you there – even if there is some rain, that’s a small price to pay to say thank you to the veterans who have sacrificed for our freedom. Perhaps you’d like tojoin me earlier Saturday morning at the American Legion Veteran's Day Breakfast and, later at the Remembrance Ceremony and Lighting of the Flame. And of course, the parade proper (all of those details in the Community Calendar below).
It's a marathon of a day, for sure, with events stretching from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m., and it's one of the most important dates of the year for our city. I can't wait to see you all there and I'm hoping mother nature will spare us and we'll see nothing but dry weather.
Head over to our Auburn Veterans Day Parade webpage for a full agenda and breakdown of Saturday activities, including times and locations.
 And while I have you, I hope you can take some time out of your day to read this story about Tim Bailey, who will be loud and proud this Veterans Parade. It first appeared in our Auburn Magazine, but in case you missed it, it's also on our City of Auburn Blog, linked below.
See you Saturday!
 Real-life superhero (she only needs a good cape) Debbie Christian and the Auburn Food Bank held their annual Harvest Breakfast Thursday morning, a tradition that dates back many, many years. Most years, Debbie is happy to gather us all together to talk about the amazing work the Auburn Food Bank does -- and really, it's incredible -- and most years, we can breathe easy that things are going to be OK.
This year, however, is a bit different. Before the COVID-19 pandemic started and changed all our lives, the food bank had plans to move from their small, cramped 1,200 square foot space into a much larger building along Auburn Way North, near the Community Resource Center, Sundown overnight shelter and Ray of Hope day center.
 That move and renovation project was priced out and then disaster struck. The pandemic hit, people went home, and plans had to be shelved. Once things started returning back to normal, so too did the food bank's proposal -- the only problem is the price they'd meticulously planned out and anticipated had ballooned several hundred thousand dollars, due to labor and materials costs.
All of that being said, Debbie and the food bank could really use your help.
 During the breakfast, Dr. Arun Mathews, Chief Medical Officer for MultiCare Auburn and Covington Medical Centers, asked us all to close our eyes and imagine a world without the Auburn Food Bank. To imagine the people affected -- the single mom who cannot afford to feed her kids. The person down on their luck and looking for work, without a shelter to come to at night. The thousands of families who rely on it, day in and day out.
I can’t begin to imagine.
Photo courtesy of Getty Images
As it turns out, everything is fine! In fact, our Director of Administration Dana Hinman and Communications Manager Jonathan Glover had that exact same question, as you can see below. Luckily for us, our Emergency Manager Karissa Smith is calm, cool and collected under pressure! I asked her if she'd be willing to provide a bit of context -- after all, her background and education was in geology -- and she happily obliged.
For those of you who want to know – here it is!
 To start, there's no need to panic! Hundreds of earthquakes happen in WA every year, most of them are just too small for us to feel or notice. Mount St. Helens is one of five active volcanoes in the state, and the magma underground is slowly moving, and occasionally that movement causes small swarms of earthquakes like this.
These earthquakes don’t necessarily mean that an eruption is imminent, or that they’ll trigger a larger earthquake. Mount St. Helens is closely monitored for signs of eruption, we’ll have some warning ahead of time if it’s getting ready to blow! We can take this as a good reminder to put together a household emergency kit.
 Congratulations to this year's Tree Lighter! Without spoiling the full video below, he's 7years old and attends Washington Elementary School. Oh, and he was one of over 30 children nominated this year, more than ever before!
I can't wait to see everyone Saturday, Dec. 2 for the Lighted Santa Parade & Tree Lighting!
Photo courtesy of Mateo Acuña
The Auburn City Council on Monday confirmed the appointment of our newest Poet Laureate Mateo Acuña, who was interviewed by the Auburn Arts Commission last month.
Mateo Acuña (he/him) is a poet, writer, and artist of European, Latinx and Indigenous heritage. He is the 2023-2024 Seattle Youth Poet Laureate. His work has appeared in Saxifrage and Creative Colloquy. A sophomore at Pacific Lutheran University, Mateo is studying an Individualized Major in Visual Art, Communications, Creative Writing, Music Composition and Theater with a minor in Publishing and Printing Arts. He has been awarded The Knudsen Family Memorial Scholarship for creative writing, a Rieke scholarship for his activism, and an Artistic Achievement Award for his French horn playing.
As a librettist in the Seattle Opera Creation Lab program, Mateo is developing a twenty-minute opera called The Legend of the Ayar Brothers. The opera is based on an Andean legend his father told him growing up, which details the journey of four brothers responsible for finding fertile soil on which to start the Inca Empire. The opera will premier in July 2024. Mateo is also a painter, freelance photographer and videographer, and composer. You can find his paintings at the Dancing Goats cafe in Tacoma and view his photography and compositions on his website.
 As an Auburn resident, Acuña’s first experience in a writing group ever was the Teen Writers’ Group at the Auburn Public Library, led by then-Auburn Poet Laureate Susan Landgraf. She became his first writing mentor and is someone he looks up to.
The City of Auburn Poet Laureate recognizes and honors a poet of exceptional talent and accomplishment that is a resident of South King County or North Pierce County and has been actively engaged in Auburn' s creative community for at least one year prior to appointment. The Poet Laureate also encourages appreciation of poetry and literary life in Auburn. The Auburn Arts Commission forwards a recommendation to the Mayor for final selection and appointment, and the City Council confirms the appointment.
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Auburn Veterans Parade
Auburn, Washington is typically designated by the Veterans Day National Committee and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs as a Regional Site for the celebration of Veterans Day. The City of Auburn is proud to be a Vietnam War Commemorative Partner and considers it an honor and privilege to host this annual event. Auburn has hosted the Veterans Parade since 1965. Now in its 58th year, the parade has grown into one of the largest parades of its kind in the United States of America.
The purpose of Auburn's Veterans Parade & Observance is to positively focus on honoring our country's veterans and active military personnel. Through our parade, we focus recognition on congressionally-recognized Veteran Service Organizations and their auxiliaries, the military and military reserve, National Guard and ROTC. The goals and purposes of Auburn's Veterans Parade & Observance are to give honor to our country's veterans and to their military missions of defending freedom around the world. View the Parade Rules & Regulations (PDF) to determine if your group is eligible to participate.
The 58th annual Veterans Parade will be held in Auburn on Saturday, November 11, 2023 starting at 11 a.m. The parade typically boasts over 200 units and nearly 6,000 parade participants, including 25+ marching bands, military vehicles, veterans' units, honor guards and more.
The parade route travels along Main Street from E Street to A Street NW/SW. The day-long activities (PDF) run from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
📅Saturday, Nov. 11
🕐 All day (see link for full details)
📍 Main Street
🔗 Full Details
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Seattle International Comedy Competition - Week 2
The Seattle International Comedy Competition is an annual event that welcomes comedians from around the world to the Pacific Northwest for an entire month of extraordinary comedy shows... and a winner is crowned at the end of it all. 2023 is the 43rd Annual Seattle International Comedy Competition. The City of Auburn will host preliminary rounds, with 1 show from each preliminary week as a horde of comedians compete to become Seattle’s newest champion!
📅Friday, Nov. 10
🕐 7:30 p.m.
📍 Green River College - Student Affairs Building (Cascade Hall) 12401 SE 320th ST, Auburn WA
🎟️ Buy Tickets Online
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Auburn Symphony: Autumn Chamber Concert
A lyrical program evocative of poetry, folk music, and a walk through the forest in springtime, also in turns dynamic, majestic, and powerful. The music is perfectly suited to this mix of instruments and musicians - an imagery-rich, multi-faceted energy will make this a wonderful evening. Musicians: Maria Mannisto, voice; Rodger Burnett, horn; Jin-Shil Yi, piano; Petro Krysa, violin; Brian Wharton, cello.
Tickets available at auburnsymphony.org.
Regular: $25 Student: $10
📅 Thursday, Nov. 16
🕐 7 p.m.
📍 St. Matthew San Mateo Episcopal Church - 123 L Street NE, Auburn, WA
🎟️ Buy Tickets Online
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Maiah Wynne at Postmark Center for the Arts
Maiah Wynne delivers powerful and universally resonant lyrics with a hauntingly beautiful voice. She is currently the lead singer in Envy of None, a project including former Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson. Based in Gresham, Oregon Maiah is an award-winning American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress. She will team up with Cellist Heidi Dubose for this impressive and inspirational evening of music.
Regular: $20 Student/Senior: $17
📅 Friday, Nov. 17
🕐 7:30 p.m.
📍 Postmark Center for the Arts, 20 Auburn Ave.
🎟️ Buy Tickets Online
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 Last year's Veterans Parade, while quite cold, was also completely dry! Fingers crossed we get lucky again.
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