Friends of Dragon Park hold social event
Published 9:30 am Monday, June 8, 2026
Special to the Reporter
Friends of Dragon Park, a growing coalition of Mercer Island citizens, rocked The Rock on June 5 with a “dragon-themed” event to support the city’s ambitious plan to renovate Deane’s Children’s (Dragon) Park.
About 50 people attended, many from coalition member organizations: Mercer Island Rotary Club, MI Preschool Association, Moms4SafeMI, MI Chinese Association and Outdoors for All. It was also First Friday Art Walk, so some citizens just dropped in when they saw a “dragon wagon” in front of the venue.
A buffet table held dragon sushi rolls from QFC and Sushi Joa, dried dragon-fruit chips and dragon-shaped sugar cookies from Miriam’s Bakery. Also bowls of “dragon droppings” (chocolate-covered blueberries), “dragon bones” (celery sticks), “dragon puffs” (soft candy) and extremely hot “Thai dragon peppers.”
At an open bar, a dragon-fruit juice cocktail with rum was available, along with a mocktail of pomegranate, orange and guava juice. Beer, wine and soft drinks were also served at no charge.
“Maybe we overdid the dragon theme,” noted event organizer John Hamer, co-founder of the Friends coalition, “but we just wanted to have some fun.”
MI Rotary President Todd White, President-elect Diane Tien and Hamer co-hosted the event. ASA and The Rock staff prepared the special drinks and helped decorate the room with dragon decor. Dragon stickers were handed out to all. One guest wore a dragon mask and others wore dragon shirts.
The city’s Dragon Park site-design plan, approved by the city council in a 6-1 vote on April 7, is a comprehensive renovation that will be done in phases and take several years to complete. It will include removing all of the current outdated playground structures, none of which are accessible or inclusive for disabled children or anyone with mobility issues such as accident victims, wounded veterans or aging seniors.
The Mercerdale “Train Park” Playground that was renovated four years ago set a standard with soft surfaces, wide ramps, solid handrails, safe slides and swings, many benches and several sensory features. It now may be the most popular playground on the island and is often crowded with children, parents, grandparents and caretakers.
“Dragon Park is unique because it’s such a heavily wooded natural setting,” Hamer told the gathering at The Rock. “We all want to preserve that but also make the playground truly universal and multigenerational. The disabled are the nation’s largest minority group, and this is the next big step in America’s civil-rights movement. If we can’t do this on Mercer Island. where can we do it?”
