Out of our element
old First Ward building, now Stadium Ward The Church has been established in Tacoma for a long time, and we meet in the first permanent building there, near downtown. An independent hamburger joint sits across the street behind the building, and is the bane of Young Men's leaders whose boys abscond to it--except when some of the leaders have tended to gravitate there themselves....but I digress. My father was stationed at Camp Lewis (as it was called then) for basic training near the end of World War II, and used to hitchhike up to Tacoma for Sunday meetings; Sunday School was held in a member's living room, and they were raising money to build this building. It was quite fun to move here and have him walk in that building the first time he came to visit. It is also a New England-type brick building somewhat similar to the ward where I grew up, though it's a little smaller. Obviously, a building dedicated in 1950 eventually needs work. It had had a full s...