Valerie Troger of Tacoma is a happy homeowner this summer because the Pierce County Superior Court judges, commissioners and staff have spent the last three Mondays pressure washing, scraping, priming and painting her house. Today, the Superior Court crew expects to finish the job with a second coat of paint and some surprises for the homeowner.
It’s the fourth year that Superior Court has participated in the Paint Tacoma-Pierce Beautiful project, which is sponsored by Associated Ministries of Pierce County. Most of the 22 judges and seven commissioners, along with staff and family members, joined the effort.
“They have transformed my house — it looks beautiful,” the 71-year-old Troger said. “They are a wonderful group of people, my goodness. I enjoy having them here.”
Divorced and the mother of two adult sons, Troger qualified for the program as a low-income senior citizen. She has resided in the home on North 28th Street for more than 30 years and said it hadn’t been painted in at least 10 years. She came to Tacoma in the 1960s from Australia and worked in office positions for several local firms.
“We had nearly 100 percent participation from the judges and commissioners,” said Judge Stephanie Arend, who headed the project along with Judge Vicki Hogan. “We were also joined by employees of Gray Lumber and Sandy’s Concrete.”
Those who couldn’t help paint contributed by bringing food and beverages for the workers or providing funds to acquire extra touches to further brighten Ms. Troger’s home. For example, many years ago a portion of the concrete pad on the front porch was cut away for a planter. The hole in the porch will be filled and the porch graced with two new chairs, so Ms. Troger can visit with friends on her freshly painted porch.
The judges were assigned the Troger home by Sallie Shawl of Paint Tacoma-Pierce Beautiful. Since 1985 when the program began, 1,654 homes have been painted by crews from churches, service clubs, unions, businesses, schools, local government and military employee groups and individuals.
