Spring break in Salmon Creek offered a wide variety of activities

Want to do some lake fishing for trout, explore a creek delta, watch an osprey disembowel a fish, improve your indoor soccer skills, compete in some contests at your library or enjoy some books and a board game? Salmon Creek has it all.

Kids and their parents took to the neighborhood this spring break, experiencing some of the community’s local gems while school was out.

Klineline Pond and Salmon Creek Draw Nature Lovers

It’s not June yet, rain’s still splattering the roadways and you can still see your breath from time to time, but that’s no reason not to stop by the local fishing and swimming hole. Many families stopped by to fish, watch birds, explore the creek or just enjoy the scenery in the 368-acre Salmon Creek Greenway.

After a week in Seaside, Ore., the Tumlinson family visited Klineline Pond Wednesday to try their luck at catching some fish off the southern bank.

“We went here last year and caught a small one,” said daughter Bergyn Tumlinson, flanked by her brother Berke, sister Andrea, father Brenson and grandmother Gloria. “We had to let it go – it was too small and it wouldn’t have survived.”

Her father has been coming down to the pond for 20 years. Although the entire family said they enjoy the pond, they all agreed on one public asset they think Salmon Creek needs: a filtered, indoor pool.

“We take the boys down to Salmon Creek to catch crawdads,” said La Center resident Justin France, flanked by his family on bikes. “The developments are getting more crowded. The kids don’t get as much of a chance to see nature.”

France took his two kids, Mitch and Gabe, and their cousin Trask Larson down to the park Thursday to ride bikes on the 3.1-mile Salmon Creek Trail. They ended up watching the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife dump thousands of trout into the pond in preparation for Saturday’s Klineline Kids Fishing event, which drew almost 1,700 young fishers.

“Not everybody can go to the lakes up north,” he added. “It’s nice that they have an event down here.”

Indoor Spots Arena Cultivates Young Sports Talent

Spring break doesn’t always match up with parents’ work and school schedules. Luckily, the neighborhood also offered safe day camps like those at Salmon Creek Indoor Sports Arena where they could drop their kids off to meet some peers, learn from older high school and college students and play some sports.

“I just wanted my little guy to have something to do over the break,” said Bella Hammond, who brought her son Calvin in Thursday for his second day of sports camp. “It’s crazy. He’s only been here once, and they already know him by name. He looks at the older kids and tries to mimic them – hopefully only the good things.”

The arena’s management team mentored hundreds of kids over the break, leading them through various physical exercises to keep them active and safe. The arena employs a buzzer system alerting staff to all entrants and cameras monitoring foot traffic.

“We bring kids together from the community to make memories that will last a lifetime,” said youth manager Kelsey Panara, who’s also a student at Washington State University’s Vancouver campus. “It’s fun when they see you in the community and call you ‘coach.’ You’ll walk by and smile; sometimes they won’t even recognize you.”

Hazel Dell resident Chris Wright appreciates the arena as well, having brought his son Victor for three years and signing his daughter Alysa up for the first year. He’s also taking advantage of the arena’s Lil’ Kickers program, which offers soccer instruction for children anywhere from 18 months to 14 years old.

“My wife and I both work,” said Wright. “It’s not like we can take off the whole week. It’s another option that our schedules work out really good for.”

Three Creeks Library has Something for Everyone

The library isn’t just a place to borrow books anymore. Whether its children’s story time, adult book discussions, teen councils, research computers, every manner of board, card and role-playing game or Wii, Three Creeks has you covered. Since 2002, the 13,000 square-foot library in Salmon Creek has provided residents with their literary fix and hosted community events for every age group.

“It’s a warm environment and everybody is really nice,” said 11-year-old Evan Siegel of Salmon Creek. “I’d have all this energy just waiting to explode. My mom can’t take me anywhere – she has four kids.”

Siegel met one of his newest friends, 10-year-old Aiden McCanta, when the two were trading Yu-Gi-Oh! cards at the library’s after-school games session from 4 to 6 p.m. every Tuesday.

Abdullah Shari’ati is more of a classicist, studying ancient civilizations – currently Saul, the first King of the Kingdom of Israel – on the library’s research computers, which augment his homeschooling resources. Shari’ati also enjoys the library’s Dungeons and Dragons group at Tuesday’s gaming sessions.