The city of Maple Valley is among 256 other communities named 2016 Playful City USA.

The national recognition honors those for making their cities more playable, according to a press release from Playful City USA.

They recognize those like Maple Valley, “for taking bold steps that make it easy for all kids to get the balanced and active play they need to thrive.”

The Maple Valley City Council has proclaimed Saturday, June 25 as Get Out and Play Day! where all citizens are encouraged to play outdoors.

Starting at 10 a.m. on June 25 at Lake Wilderness Park, there will be a kids bike challenge and safety rodeo followed by the beach opening for swimming and boating at noon.

More outdoor events are coming to Lake Wilderness Park this summer including the kids festival on July 23, Camp Wild day camps, Thursday evenings music and family movie night in the park.

There are also youth sport leagues, lessons and other activities available.

For more information on this honor, visit playfulcityusa.org.

Tuesday golf club is off to a swinging start.

On May 17, 16 golfers competed in the Sweet and Sour competition.

Rembie Krattli with a 28 and Donna Damico with a score of 26.5 won the competition.

And the week before on May 10 the Ladies Golf Club held the Pickle in the Middle competition.

Terry Dairy with a score of 31 and Janice Train with 38.5 were the winners.

This season, the club has four new members. If you are interesting in joining the Tuesday morning golf club, call the Pro Shop at 425-432-9405 or visit lakewildernessgc.com.

Every year, Covington recognizes two individuals as it’s Citizen of the Year and Honorary Citizen of the Year. Honored individuals have been volunteers, advocates, ambassadors, dedicated residents and real assets of Covington.

If you have observed or know someone who deserves to be honored by the city of Covington, let the City Council know.

Nominees must reside within Covington city limits. Honorary Citizen of the Year nominees can live outside of Covington but must have made an impact on the city in some way.

Winners will be announced at the July 12 city council meeting.

Nominations can be made by complete the online form at www.covingtonwa.gov/citizenawards.html or a letter can be dropped off by 5 p.m. on June 15.

For more information contact communications and marketing manager, Karla Slate at kslate@covingtonwa.gov or 253-480-2402

Washington law enforcement officers will join the national Click It or Ticket campaign aimed at encouraging everyone to wear their seat belt on every trip with extra patrols running through Sunday.

In King County, the Algona, Auburn, Bellevue, Black Diamond, Covington, Des Moines, Enumclaw, Federal Way, Issaquah, Kent, Kirkland, Lake Forest Park, Maple Valley, Mercer Island, Newcastle, Pacific, Redmond, Renton, Sammamish, SeaTac, Seattle, Snoqualmie, and Tukwila police departments and the Washington State Patrol will be participating in the extra patrols.

These extra patrols are part of Target Zero—striving to end traffic deaths and serious injuries in Washington by 2030. For more information, visit targetzero.com. Additional information about the Washington Traffic Safety Commission can be found at www.wtsc.wa.gov.

An astounding 95 percent of Washingtonians wear seat belts according to WTSC 2015 annual seat belt survey, ranking the state among the highest in the nation.

Still, each year in Washington about 100 people who were not belted die in crashes.

A seat belt ticket is $136.

Local students graduate from Oregon State University

The following are students who are graduating in June from Oregon State University.

Black Diamond: Nicholas K. Wehmann, Bachelor of Science, radiation health physics.

Covington: Nathaniel C. Meeks, Bachelor of Science, agricultural business management.

Maple Valley: Lauren J. Maulden, Bachelor of Science, Summa Cum Laude, human development and family sciences.

Tahoma Robotics Club at Maple Valley Days

The Tahoma Robotics Club will be hosting a booth at Maple Valley Days. Kids, parents and anyone interested may take the controls and drive small robots, picking up whiffle balls and dropping them into receptacles.

The club’s award winning competition robot, XCalibear, will be in the Saturday morning parade and later on display at the club’s booth.