March marked the 10th Anniversary of Tigard’s Recreation Program, and according to Tigard Parks and Recreation personnel, community interest is on the rise.
“Demand continues to grow, with our Recreation team regularly receiving requests to expand the variety and number of offerings, including popular options like Summer Day Camps, which often fill up within hours of registration opening,” wrote Tigard Parks and Rec Community Engagement Coordinator Jessica Love in an email to Tigard Life.
The Recreation Program was formed in 2016 and has since then curated a diverse palette of community activities, including seasonal camps for kids, co-ed kickball leagues for adults, herb gardening for seniors, in addition to events for the holidays, like their Easter Egg Hunt, and various other family features like movie nights and family five-mile fun runs.
“In 2025, Concerts in the Park drew crowds of up to around 3,000 people to Cook Family Park, with popular performances by Hit Machine and Petty Fever,” wrote Love. “The Movies in the Park bring in around 250 to 525 attendees to watch classic family-friendly favorites and recently released movies.”
Statistics, provided by Love, show that the recreation program originally had five special events a year, jumped to 18 in 2019, and now organizes 28 special events a year.
In addition to community events and fun activities centered around city parks, the Recreation Program also provides scholarships to residents, awarding 47 park scholarships in 2025. These scholarships cover expenses associated with recreation program activities.
Love mentioned that, with summer expansion and updates slated for Tigard’s parks, the recreation program will also be adding new activities, like “Pop-Ups in the Park,” free-to-attend hybrid events that mix music, sports and arts and crafts.
Rick Gruen, Tigard Parks and Recreation Green Infrastructure Manager, wrote about the anniversary, saying, “It has been exciting to watch our recreation program grow in Tigard. While it’s still a relatively small program, our dedicated and passionate recreation team has found many creative ways, through local partnerships, to bring diverse program offerings to our Tigard community – from toddlers and teens to adults and seniors. I can’t wait to see what the next 10 years bring.”
