Oakpointe Communities Celebrates the Return of Black Diamond Community Events this September with Labor Days Festival and Hometown Harvest

Ten Trails is excited to invite residents and others in the Black Diamond area to two special events in September. These events include Black Diamond’s long-standing Labor Days festival, taking place September 4-6, and Oakpointe’s third-annual Hometown Harvest Carnival event on September 18. “When it comes to creating exceptional places to live, work and play, each neighborhood is only as good as the community it’s comprised of,” said Brian Ross, CEO of Oakpointe. “What makes a place great is a sense of camaraderie and togetherness, which is exactly why we’ve decided to become a sponsor of Black Diamond’s Labor Days and bring back our Hometown Harvest Carnival. After more than a year of staying home and staying healthy, we’re excited to get back to safely supporting these outdoor gatherings as a way to help bring the entire Black Diamond community together.” More information on both events can be found below:

Black Diamond Labor Days – September 4-6, 2021

The city of Black Diamond, Washington prides itself on its deep historical roots and time-honored traditions. Its Labor Days festival is one that residents look forward to year after year – for over 100 years now. This year’s theme is “Welcome Back,” and each day will include a variety of ways to celebrate, such as a parade, live music, food vendors, and more. For the first time ever, Oakpointe’s Ten Trails community will be kicking off the event on September 4 with a Bike and Scooter Rodeo next to the Ten Trails Welcome Center from 2-4 p.m. This family-friendly event is geared toward helping children learn the rules of the road while practicing important bike-safety skills, and Oakpointe will give away 200 helmets to any child who needs one. Families are invited to stick around Ten Trails that evening for an outdoor movie night beginning at 8:15 p.m. in Civic Park, where they’ll be showing “Toy Story 4.” For more updates and details on Black Diamond Labor Days, visit: http://www.blackdiamondlabordays.org/.

Hometown Harvest Carnival – September 18, 2021

Oakpointe’s third-annual Hometown Harvest Carnival takes place on Saturday, September 18 from 12-6 p.m. in the heart of Ten Trails. After a year away, Oakpointe anticipates this year’s celebration could be the grandest one yet, so the event will span both Civic Park and Village Green. Community members are invited to come and enjoy a variety of food trucks, a beer and wine garden, games, 40+ local arts and crafts vendors, live music courtesy of local country singer Aaron Crawford, and plenty more. Oakpointe is also offering a tasting tour that stops by many of its Ten Trails model homes. Participants will be given a “tour passport” that can be stamped at each destination for a chance to win prizes along the way. Oakpointe is excited to be partnering with Lill Family Wines to share a special Ten Trails-branded wine, which will be available for purchase and consumption in the Beer and Wine Garden located at Civic Park. For more updates and details on the Hometown Harvest Carnival, visit Ten Trails on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TenTrails and click on ‘Events’. www.TenTrails.com 360.469.4043

Alternatives to Resolutions to Start off Your New Year

This has been an unprecedented year for the entire world, with many of us looking for a big change in the new year. Rather than making the same tired old New Year’s Resolutions that you likely will not keep, why not switch it up a bit and try a different approach to mark the beginning of 2021? Research shows that a focus on creating new habits is way more effective in changing unwanted behaviors than traditional resolutions. For example, instead of resolving to lose weight in the new year, create a new habit for 2021 that you will take a walk for 30 minutes every day after dinner. Need some inspiration for new healthy habits for 2021? Here are a few suggestions you can try out:

Practice Daily Gratitude

According to Psychology Today,  a regular gratitude practice is correlated with a greater sense of overall happiness. Practicing gratitude helps release feel-good chemicals in our brains and cultivates a sense of mindfulness. When you are focused on your many blessings, you are not dwelling on the things that are perceived to be going “wrong.” With so much turmoil and uncertainty over the past year, it can be easy to feel uneasy and anxious. Adding a gratitude practice to your day may be just the thing to turn those negative feelings around in the new year.

Reach out to Someone to Connect Once a Week 

The pandemic has made life for many much more isolated than ever before. With restricted ability to travel and see friends and loved ones, the past 10 months may have been very lonely for some. Make a new habit in the new year to reach out to a friend or family member once a week for a phone call check in or virtual visit. As humans, we crave connection and these weekly check-ins with friends may not only do you a world of good, but might be what your friend or family member needs as well!

Move Your Body Every Day 

Make a habit to move your body each day in a way that is most fun for you and that will not feel like a chore. If you hate running, do not make a new habit of running miles every morning or you will quit before January is even over. Dance, walk, play with your dog, ride your bike, or hike local trails. Daily exercise contributes to better overall health and a sense of well-being. Find the thing that you enjoy doing and make a habit of finding time for it every day! 360.460.4043 www.TenTrails.com

Light Up Your Hometown Holiday Lights Contest Builds Community in a Challenging Time

Residents of Ten Trails can count themselves lucky to live in a community where events, activities and amenities are just one part of the lifestyle! The developer of Ten Trails, Oakpointe Communities, created the community with a goal in mind to build a place that is desirable to live, and where residents can feel a connection to their community and to each other. With this goal in mind, we continue to offer fun activities to build community, even during the Covid-19 pandemic. One of these activities is our recent Light Up Your Hometown Holiday Lights Contest.

Hometown Holiday Lights Contest

For the second year in a row, Ten Trails asked residents to take part in a holiday lights competition! Visit the community any evening now through January 1st to see many homes and much of the community lit up – including our 35-foot Christmas tree located at the top of the knoll in the Village Green!

2020 Light Up Your Hometown Winners

A huge congratulations to our winners and honorable mentions this year, and nice work to everyone who participated! As always, we appreciate your enthusiasm for the community and our activities. Not yet a resident of Ten Trails but still want to be part of the fun? Download a map for a suggested route to tour the community and see if you can find the winning homes pictured below. www.TenTrails.com 360.469.4043

Visit Ten Trails this Holiday Season to See our Community Lights Display 

Ten Trails is once again asking residents to take part in a holiday lights competition! Visit the community any evening from December 12^th through January 1^st to see many homes and much of the community lit up – including our huge Christmas tree in the Village Green!

Get a Map to Tour the Community Lights

Click here to access a map of a suggested route to tour our holiday lights or find one on our Facebook page. Want to share in the fun? Take a photo, post it to Facebook or Instagram and tag us, @TenTrails and tell us which house’s lights are your favorite!

Past Holiday Lights Celebrations in the Community

Click here for a link to view a video from last year’s Christmas tree lighting event in the community! We look forward to welcoming everyone back to the community for this fun gathering when it is safe to do so. 360.469.4043 www.TenTrails.com

Visit Ten Trails this Holiday Season to See our Community Lights Display 

Ten Trails is once again asking residents to take part in a holiday lights competition! Visit the community any evening from December 12^th through January 1^st to see many homes and much of the community lit up – including our huge Christmas tree in the Village Green!

Get a Map to Tour the Community Lights

Click here to access a map  tour our holiday lights or find one on our Facebook page. Want to share in the fun? Take a photo, post it to Facebook or Instagram and tag us, @TenTrails and tell us which house’s lights are your favorite!

Past Holiday Lights Celebrations in the Community

Click here for a link to view a video from last year’s Christmas tree lighting event in the community! We look forward to welcoming everyone back to the community for this fun gathering when it is safe to do so. 360.469.4043 www.TenTrails.com      

Ideas for New Holiday Traditions This Season 

While the holiday season may be a little different this year for some families due to the pandemic, that does not mean family traditions have to be abandoned completely! Why not use this year to establish some fun new traditions with your family, or try different twists on longstanding ones? Here are some suggestions for how to connect with loved ones during the holiday season why still maintaining physical distance.

Play Long Distance Games with Family 

Video games have long had the option for players from around the world to connect but there are ways to play popular board and card games virtually as well! Family favorite games like Monopoly, Scattergories and Uno all have online versions you can play with friends and family. You can also hop on Zoom or Facebook Rooms to have a video conference with family members to play fun games like Charades, Who in the Room, or Trivia.

Do a Virtual Watch Party of Your Favorite Christmas Movies 

Does your family have favorite holiday movies that you watch together every year? You still can with new streaming technology and the help of ultra-fast one-gig internet at your Ten Trails home. Many streaming services like Netflix or Sling offer opportunities to create a “watch party” with friends and family members who are also subscribers. Chat on video while the film plays, and you can offer commentary and enjoy all your favorite scenes together.

Zoom Holiday Formal 

Do you miss getting dressed up for a night out? Get decked out in your favorite holiday attire and attend a holiday formal with friends or coworkers via Zoom. Ideas for sharing this event including picking out one or two appetizer recipes ahead of time that you will each make and share together during the party. Select a few special holiday-themed cocktails or mocktails to toast with while showing off your festive outfits.

Take Part in a Remote Baking Competition 

Holiday time is synonymous with baked goods and there is no reason this year should be an exception! Enter a friendly competition with friends, neighbors, or family members by baking up your best sweet treats and shipping or dropping off small batches to your baking competitors. Decide on a rating system beforehand and each member on the competition gets to vote for which treat they like best. Suggestions for voting categories include: “best decoration,” “best taste,” “most creative,” “best texture.” and “best overall.” Plant a New Year Tree Many cultures celebrate the new year by decorating or planting a tree — similar to the common practice in this country of putting up a Christmas tree. To mark the passage of 2020 and transition to 2021, your family could adopt this tradition and plant a tree or purchase a new houseplant to commemorate the holiday and represent a symbol of growth and life for the coming year. www.TenTrails.com 360.469.4043

Nearby Events this Holiday Season If you didn’t get enough holiday fun at our Hometown Holiday event last weekend, don’t fret! Ten Trails residents still have plenty of activities to choose from to celebrate this magical time of year!

December 14^th Hometown Christmas in Black Diamond

From 10 am until 3 pm on December 14^th, head to historic downtown Black Diamond for the Black Diamond Historical Society’s annual Hometown Christmas event! Meet Santa and Mrs. Claus as well as Frosty the Snowman and take part in a ton of activities like cookie-decorating, face-painting, and more! All are welcome, and the kids’ activities are free.

December 14^th Christmas Rush Fun Run and Walk                  

Before heading to Hometown Christmas, bring the family to nearby Kent for the Christmas Rush Fun Run/Walk at Hogan Park. Registration begins at 8 am, the 10k runners start at 9:50 am and the 5K at 10 am. Registration is open until the day of the event and costs $25 per participant.

Now through January 5^th: Zoolights at the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium 

Take a quick drive to nearby Tacoma for their annual Zoolights holiday display! 700,000 LED lights transform the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium into a winter wonderland complete with 3D animal light displays sure to dazzle the youngest members of your family.

Holiday Lights at Ten Trails 

Bundle up and take a stroll or family drive through Ten Trails during any given evening this holiday season to check out our spectacular holiday lights display! Our common areas, Welcome Center, and many of our residential homes are lit up with holiday cheer. For even more holiday events in the Puget Sound area check out Seattle Times’ Winter Guide! www.TenTrails.com 360.469.4043    

Thanks to everyone who came out for our second annual Hometown Holiday event yesterday and a BIG congratulations to our winners of the Light Up Your Hometown Contest: Clark Griswold Family Christmas – Jose Enciso Classical Christmas – John Hoyt See it from the Moon- Shellyn Moore Tis the Reason for the Season – Denise and Chris Mackey The fun never stops at Ten Trails! Follow us on Hometown Social for updates on our next event!

Second Annual Hometown Holiday Event at Ten Trails Ten Trails is having our second annual Hometown Holiday event on December 7^th from 3 to 6:30 pm! This year’s event will be even bigger than last year with tours of model homes featuring family-friendly crafts, selfies with Santa in our Welcome Center, music, carolers, and a bounce house. The days’ events will culminate with Santa lighting the Christmas tree in our Village Green Park.

Visit the Ten Trails Welcome Center First

Stop by our Welcome Center first to grab a map to the model homes and take a photo with Santa! The first 100 people to visit will receive a free cupcake. Don’t forget to bring your donation items for the Black Diamond Community Center. We are collecting non-perishable food items, diapers, and toothpaste for families in need in our local area.

Holiday Crafts at our Model Homes

Our 14 model homes will be open from 10 am to 5 pm on December 7^th for touring, with holiday craft stations set up in four models from 3 to 5 pm. Activities include sugar cookie decorating at the MainVue model home, letters to Santa at the Ichijo model, ornament making at the Lennar Hazelwood model and holiday stocking painting at the Conner Homes model.

Holiday Tree Lighting in our Village Green Park

Head over to the Village Green Park from 5 to 6:30 pm and bring your appetite! We will have food trucks serving dinner items as well as the Legendary Donuts truck. Listen to all the biggest holiday hits as well as music from live carolers while sipping on complimentary hot cocoa, hot apple cider and non-alcoholic hot buttered rum. A DJ and bouncy house will be there to keep everyone entertained while they await Santa’s big arrival. Mountain View Fire and Rescue will deliver Santa on a decorated fire truck to the Village Green Park for the lighting of our holiday tree at 6 pm! We hope to see you there! 360.469.4043 www.TenTrails.com

Five Reasons to be Thankful for Your New Hometown

In this season of gratitude, there are plenty of reasons to be thankful for Your New Hometown! As a resident of Ten Trails, you can enjoy gorgeous amenities, beautiful parks and open spaces, fun community events, one-gig internet through Wave, and a wide variety of home options from our team of award-winning builders!

Beautiful parks and Open Spaces

Ten Trails has a park within walking distance to every home! These include our award-winning Civic Park which features a screen and projector for movie nights in the park, an event stage and lawn for summer concerts, a hillside natural play area, sports courts, a picnic shelter and restrooms.

Wide Variety New Homes from Award-Winning Builders

Homebuyers have their choice of home options at Ten Trails including single-family detached homes, townhomes and duplexes. Our team of 5 builders have homes for sale that range in size from around 1,200 square feet to more than 4,000 square feet. Home prices in the community start in the upper $300’s for our upcoming townhomes by Rudd.

Tons of Amenities

Ten Trails has amenities to suit residents of all ages! Our outdoor firepits provide a great hangout location to get together with friends and neighbors, and our many parks and playgrounds are ideal for families with young children. For sports fans, our Civic Park has a large sports court with basketball hoops as well as two bocce ball courts. An outdoor ping pong table is the perfect meetup spot for neighbors after a big holiday meal.

Community Events

Ten Trails hosts public community events throughout the year including summer Hometown Social events in our Civic Park, a Hometown Holiday event in December, and our annual Easter Egg hunt in our Village Green Park. We also have summer movie night events which take place on the event lawn at the Civic Park. The community’s HOA hosts private events for residents throughout the year designed to celebrate the seasons and offer opportunities to get together with neighbors.

One-Gigabit Connectivity with Every Home

Every home in Ten Trails is wired for 1 gigabyte speed internet through Wave! The 1-gig internet service at Ten Trails provides downloads and uploads up to 1,000 Mbps, with fast performance and streaming. There are no data caps included with your service, so feel free to surf and stream on multiple devices throughout your home. www.TenTrails.com 360-469-4034