REPORTER STAFF

After more than two years since breaking ground, Timber Ridge at Talus celebrated its ribbon cutting ceremony this week.

Residents have been moving in for the last six months, but Thursday night’s event marked the official opening.

About 100 people turned out for the event, many of them residents and their family members.

Speakers at the event included resident James Pake, who started off the invocation asking that “those who are physically able today to please rise.”

Original “Voice of the Sonics” Bob Blackburn, a resident at Timber Ridge and also a spokesman for Life Care Services, also spoke at the opening. He poked fun at the night’s running joke, that the washing machines at Timber Ridge don’t work very well, (they are a washer dryer combo machine that is supposed to both wash and dry without the user having to move the clothes) — by starting off saying that he hasn’t had any problems with the washing machines.

“My wife’s done all the laundry,” he joked.

One item that was noted by President and CEO Ed Kenny was that Timber Ridge is certified LEED Silver Certification, an award that it achieved on June 30. Timber Ridge is one of the few green communities of its kind in the entire nation.

Issaquah Mayor Ava Frisinger was on hand to cut the ribbon at the Issaquah Chamber of Commerce event.

Following the ribbon cutting, there were tours as well as food, drinks, dancing and a live band.