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Jardin Du Soleil Lavender Farm

Meaning of the Name "Sequim"

Sequim ("S'kwim") means quiet waters in the native language of the S'Klallam tribe.


I've been told this is incorrect, but if you do a search on the meaning of the name, you will find most of them follow the native language name, meaning Quiet or Calm Waters.


On a web article regarding Sequim History dated August 17, 1935. It was a letter from Mayor J. S. Bugge to KOMO-KJR News, Seattle, where he indicated that Sequim was an Indian word meaning “Happy Hunting Grounds” (or “Heaven” in layman’s terms). Of course, this is not the only meaning of the word. The S’Klallam tribe defines it as “quiet waters.” Considering the idyllic locale – nestled between the Straits of Juan de Fuca and the Olympic Mountains – others simply describe it as the perfect vacation spot where the sun shines all year long. Sequim is strategically located in the “rainshadow” of the Olympic Mountains with an annual average rainfall of 14 to 17 inches annually.


Sequim, originally was called Seguin in 1879 and that was the name of the post office, and someone transposed the G to a Q, and the name stuck. My great-great-grandfather Benjamin Franklin Dean, was a postal worker and the first postmaster for the town of Blyn. He named the town after one of his sons, Orville, but when their neighbor pronounced Orville's name Oblyn, they thought Blyn was a nicer name and that's what the town was called. Dean Creek which is near 7 Cedars Casino is named for my family, and all that land that is now owned by the tribe once belonged to Ben Dean.



Saturday, November 21, 2009

Weekend festival for both fanged fiction fans, others in Port Angeles



By Paige Dickerson
Peninsula Daily News

PORT ANGELES -- "Bella Luna: A New Moon Celebration," which will mark the release of "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" movie, promises to entertain both fans of the vampire novels and those who have never read any of the four books, said the chairwoman of the two-day festival that begins today.

A dog talent contest -- Dogs Got Talent -- and dog fashion contest -- America's Next Top Dog -- will be fun for owner and pet alike, said Kim Trenerry-Mogi, chairwoman of the Port Angeles Downtown Association celebration, as well as the Port Angeles branch of Dazzled by Twilight, a souvenir shop. The first Dazzled by Twilight is in Forks.

"What person doesn't love watching dog tricks?" Trenerry-Mogi said.

A scavenger hunt, Quileute storytellers and a performance by the hometown rock band Lonely H also all part of the festivities, which will have, as their grand finale, a Gothic Ball on Saturday night.

The weekend is full of events both today and Saturday -- and most of them are free, Trenerry-Mogi.

"It is incredible how many things we can offer for free for fans and residents of the area," she said.

"Everyone has really pulled together to make this a great event."

Coincide with movie

The celebration begins today to coincide with the release of the movie based on the second book in Stephenie Meyer's series of teen love and vampires set in Forks, LaPush and Port Angeles.

The movie was shown right after midnight, in today's early hours, in both Port Angeles at the Lincoln Theater at 132 E. First St. and Port Townsend at The Rose Theatre at 235 Taylor St.

In Port Angeles, "New Moon" was on two screens at the Lincoln Theater, with one showing at 12:01 a.m. today, and the other at 12:15 a.m. The earlier move was preceded, at 9:15 p.m. Thursday, by "Twilight," which was released last November and is based on the first novel in the vampire series.

Those who missed the first two screenings have more chances to see the film.

It will be screened at the Lincoln Theater at 2 p.m. and 4:45 p.m. today, with screenings expected for at least the next two weeks.

Tickets are available each day when the box office opens.

In Port Townsend, the Rose Theatre also had a midnight showing of "New Moon," and will show the film at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. today through Thursday, with additional screenings at 10 p.m. today and Saturday, at 12:30 p.m. Saturday and at 1 p.m. Sunday. Advance tickets are available at the theater or online at www.rosetheatre.com.

Other events

In addition to the contests for dogs, humans will get their chance to show off in the Wolf Pack Six-Pack contest.

Meyer's best-selling books -- Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn -- are the story of human Bella Swan and her vampire suitor Edward Cullen. In the first book, the star-crossed lovers begin to date, but in the second book Edward breaks up with Bella and moves away, leaving the teen brokenhearted.

In his absence, she bonds with her best friend, Jacob Black, one of a pack of werewolves, and he tries to win her heart.

When the teenagers begin transforming into werewolves, they grow very tall very quickly and also become very muscular.

That led to the idea for the contest, in which contestants will show off their abs.

Prizes will be given in both the dog and wolf-pack contests.

The dog fashion contest will be from 2:45 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. Saturday at The Landing mall, 115 E. Railroad Ave.

The dog talent contest will be from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at The Gateway pavilion at Front and Lincoln streets.

The six-pack contest will be from 5 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday at The Gateway.

Trivia contest

A trivia contest will be today from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. at The Gateway

"This contest is all about New Moon," said Trenerry-Mogi. "Some of the questions are really tough."

Also, Trenerry-Mogi said, presentations today and Saturday by Olympic National Park Ranger Dean Butterworth would appeal to non-Twilight fans.

"It will be interesting to hear about all the wildlife in the park," she said.

"Of course, fans know that the reason it appeals to us is because the Cullens hunt for blood there, but this will be educational and fun for even those who are not huge fans."

A motorcycle exhibit featuring the first police motorcycle on the North Olympic Peninsula will run from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday at The Landing mall.

"What guy doesn't love to look at motorcycles?" said Barb Frederick, director of the Port Angeles Downtown Association.

Frederick talked about the event on Vancouver, British Columbia, radio Wednesday.

"On the radio, we coined a new phrase for those who lined up so early for the movie release," she said.

"We are calling them Twi-nuts.

"I even talked to them in line, and most of them wholeheartedly agreed that they are."

For more information about the celebration, see www.portangelesdowntown.com.

__________

Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.

Last modified: November 20. 2009 12:39AM
Posted by Cindi Epona'Bri at 12:35 AM 0 comments

Falling limb kills Transportation worker clearing storm-downed tree on U.S. Highway 101


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State Department of Transportation
Neal Richards, who was killed in a freak accident alongside U.S. 101.


By Tom Callis
Peninsula Daily News

PORT ANGELES -- A father of two from Forks, a state Department of Transportation worker, died Thursday morning after a tree branch fell on him while he was helping to clear another tree that had fallen near the Indian Valley truck scales.

Forks resident Neal Richards, 42, was pronounced dead at the scene by the State Patrol and Clallam County Fire District No. 2 medical emergency technicians shortly after the branch hit him at about 10:30 a.m.


Removing fallen tree

Richards, a maintenance lead technician, and five other Transportation workers were removing a fallen tree on the side of U.S. Highway 101 at Milepost 237 about 11 miles west of Port Angeles.

His death -- the sole known loss of life on the North Olympic Peninsula because of this week's storms -- was noted by Transportation officials and the governor.

"This tragic event is a reminder of the danger many of our state workers are exposed to while doing their jobs and serving the people of our state," said Gov. Chris Gregoire, who ordered all flags on public property to be lowered to half-staff this Monday.

"My heart goes out to his family, co-workers at DOT and friends during this most difficult time."

Richards was the father of two boys -- 10 and 12 years old -- said Forks Mayor Nedra Reed.

"He was a Forks boy, born and raised," she said.

'One of our own'

"He was one of our own, and we are devastated at the loss."

Reed said Richards, who had recently remarried, worked as a Forks police officer for nine years. He joined Transportation in 1998.

Transportation spokeswoman Kelly Stowe said Richards was using a chain saw to cut up a fallen tree when a branch from another tree came loose and hit him. It was unclear why the branch from the other tree fell.

She said the fallen tree was not resting on that branch, and it remained unknown if it was knocked loose by the tree when it fell.

Stowe said the fallen tree was not blocking either of the highway's lanes, although it may have been blocking a portion of the shoulder.

Transportation workers reviewed safety procedures before attempting to remove the tree, she said.

"I think it just was one of those things that all the planning in the world wouldn't prevent," she said.

"They couldn't have foreseen the branch from coming the way it came and landing the way it did."

________

Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@ peninsuladailynews.com.
Posted by Cindi Epona'Bri at 12:33 AM 0 comments

Friday, November 20, 2009

It's 'Twilight' or bust as 'New Moon' gets ready to rise over Peninsula


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Victoria McDonald of Fitchburg, Mass., formerly from Port Angeles, left, holds the first spot in line for tickets to "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" on Tuesday at the Lincoln Theater in Port Angeles, as Crissy Lee of Sequim waits in the second position. The highly anticipated sequel to "Twilight" makes its Port Angeles debut with showings beginning at 12:01 a.m. Friday. -- Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News


By Paige Dickerson
Peninsula Daily News

PORT ANGELES -- When Victoria McDonald returned to Port Angeles from Fitchburg, Mass., her plan was to visit friends and family members, help out in the Dazzled by Twilight store she once managed -- and at some point on Wednesday night stake out her place as first in line to get tickets to the first showing of "The Twilight Saga: New Moon."

The showing will be at 12:01 a.m. Friday, immediately after a 9:30 p.m. Thursday showing of a rerun of the first "Twilight" movie at the Lincoln Theater in downtown Port Angeles.

But then on Tuesday, McDonald overheard a fan tell a Dazzled by Twilight employee that she and a friend planned to get in line on Tuesday.

"I thought, 'Oh, no. No. No. I am first in line,'" said McDonald, who was also first in line for the Lincoln Theater midnight showing of "Twilight" when it opened a year ago.

So she and a few friends headed right over to the theater on Tuesday afternoon.

Bundled against rain and cold, she plans to sit, eat and sleep on the sidewalk in front of the theater until claiming the ticket to the movie that has her -- and millions of other fans nationwide -- obsessed with the tale of vampires, werewolves and true love.

McDonald was the first manager of Dazzled by Twilight store in Port Angeles, an extension of the Dazzled by Twilight store in Forks. Both sell Twilight-themed gift items.

She is the wife of Sean McDonald, former advertising director of the Peninsula Daily News.

They moved to Massachusetts in early September, where McDonald is now publisher of the Fitchburg Sentinel & Enterprise daily newspaper.


Lincoln Theater

The four Twilight books are set mostly in Forks and LaPush, and Bella Swan, the klutzy heroine, often goes to Port Angeles for entertainment.

In "New Moon" she, her best friend and suitor Jacob Black and a classmate who also hopes to win her heart, Mike Newton, visit the Lincoln Theater to watch a horror movie.

Although none of the movies have been filmed on the North Olympic Peninsula, tens of thousands of fans have flocked to Forks, LaPush and Port Angeles to see the real-life places of where the fictional Twilight tales are set.

By twilight time Tuesday, 18 fans had lined up chairs, blankets, large umbrellas and packs of food to sustain them through the long wait.

Annette Root, who lives in Forks and owns the Dazzled by Twilight stores in Port Angeles and Forks, was also set to join McDonald later Tuesday night.

Chrissy Lee of Sequim was second behind McDonald and said that though many of the fans planned to sleep in their cars, they would take turns guarding the places in line.

"We also know that the Dazzled by Twilight crew will be diligent in helping us all stay warm and fed," Lee said.

"They brought us some nice hot soup for dinner."

Tickets will go on sale at the Lincoln Theater at 5:15 p.m. on Thursday for the midnight showing and for the double feature of "Twilight" and "New Moon."

Port Townsend

The Rose Theatre in Port Townsend is also holding a midnight showing.

Tickets are already on sale online at www.rosetheatre.com.

About half the tickets for the midnight showing are already sold, leaving about 80 tickets left.

The first "Twilight" film grossed $383.6 million worldwide.

Several hundred fans last November showed up to see the movie in the theater where Bella went, and about 600 waited in line in Forks when the DVD was released.

"I was awake all of last night worrying that I wouldn't be first in line," McDonald said.

"This camaraderie and fun of waiting here in line for a movie we will love is the best part about it all."

A host of activities are planned in Port Angeles to entertain Twilight fans this weekend including mushroom ravioli from Bella Italia served throughout the weekend -- Bella's meal she eats on her first date with Edward -- pictures taken of fans posed as vampire royalty and Quileute storytellers talking about real legends -- as opposed to the fictionalized ones in the Twilight books.

__________

Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.

Last modified: November 18. 2009 12:32AM
Posted by Cindi Epona'Bri at 11:48 PM 0 comments

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Storm leaves much of Clallam County in the dark; Jefferson County not hit as hard


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Port Angeles utility workers prepare to examine power lines around the A Street substation near 15th and A streets as rain and wind rake the area Wednesday night. -- Photo by Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News


By Tom Callis
Peninsula Daily News

TO OUR READERS: Keep checking this Web site for National Weather Service forecasts and updates on progress toward restoring power across the North Olympic Peninsula. Please blog below to communicate storm and power outage information with readers.
.

Another round of stormy weather knocked out power Wednesday evening to more than 16,800 customers -- essentially everyone west and southwest of Port Angeles as well as portions of the city itself -- and caused other scattered outages across Clallam County.

By 9 p.m., several thousand had power restored, but about 13,600 customers of the Clallam County Public Utility District and the city of Port Angeles remained without electrical service.

A downed transmission line put the West End in the dark.

Of the 13,600, about 12,000 were PUD customers affected by dozens of separate outages.

"They're working from one outage to the next," said PUD spokesman Jeff Beaman.

The West End lost power about 6 p.m. when a Bonne ville Power Administration transmission line was knocked out somewhere between Port Angeles and Sappho.

Beaman said he could not estimate when power would be back online for PUD customers.

Since the area where the transmission line had severed had not been located, he said, "we don't know what we are up against."

Fallen trees and power lines blocked sections of both U.S. Highway 101 and state Highway 112 late Wednesday, said state Department of Transportation spokeswoman Kelly Stowe.

Both lanes of Highway 101 were blocked at Milepost 241 just beyond Olympic Hot Springs Road, she said at about 10 p.m.

Both lanes of Highway 112 at Milepost 45 near West Lyre River Road were blocked by downed trees at 9:15 p.m.

She did not know when the highways would be cleared.


Emergency center

The Clallam County Emergency Operations Center was activated at 9 p.m. to direct road crews to remove fallen trees across the county.

In Port Angeles, 4,846 customers lost power Wednesday evening.

As of 8:30 p.m., power had been restored to all but 1,600 customers.

Three of the city's four substations went down because of faults in the power lines, said Glenn Cutler, Port Angeles public works and utilities director.

He expected all customers to have power restored by midnight.

A power line along 16th Street was posing the biggest problem for city crews Wednesday night.

It was taken out by a fallen tree at about 6 p.m., and power had to be rerouted.

Cutler said it will take about three days to replace the power line.

Earlier in the day, power was lost and later restored to Diamond Point and to a few scattered outages near Sequim.


Jefferson County

In East Jefferson County, the wind downed a few trees, some causing power outages.

High winds and heavy seas prompted the state Department of Transportation to cancel the final runs Wednesday of the Port Townsend-Keystone ferry.

The National Weather Service on Wednesday evening reported winds of more than 30 mph in Port Angeles, Forks and Neah Bay, and more than 40 mph in Port Townsend. Wind speeds in Sequim did not exceed 12 mph.

Winds are expected to die down today in Port Angeles but not in Forks and Neah Bay, which are expected to have gusts of more than 25 mph.

And Port Townsend may have gusts as great as 44 mph.

Winds will continue to slow on Friday, but Sequim and Port Townsend may be breezy.

Rainy weather will continue across the North Olympic Peninsula for the rest of the week.

A flood watch will be in effect through Friday.


Few mudslides

Stormy weather earlier in the week caused minor damage to the Olympic Discovery Trail near Port Angeles, as well as a few mud slides around Clallam County.

Cutler said Wednesday that staff members are monitoring a portion of the Discovery Trail between the city limit and Morse Creek where harsh weather had eroded the asphalt.

A small slide also hit the trail in that area, but the path remains open.

"Right now it's still passable," Cutler said.

"If it gets some more wind and high tide action combined, than we could potentially close the trail."

The Port Angeles City Council declared a state of emergency Tuesday in response to the recent storms.

Cutler said the declaration allows the city to waive some bid requirements to bring in contractors.

It was used Wednesday to bring in a contractor to remove debris that was blocking a culvert on White Creek, a tributary of Ennis Creek on the east side of Port Angeles.

The city did not have equipment big enough for the job, he said.

Clallam County Engineer Ross Tyler said road crews have cleared two mudslides and one fallen tree this week.

The slides occurred on Dan Kelly Road west of Port Angeles and Joyce-Piedmont Road near Joyce.

A large tree was removed from Hoko-Ozette Road, and debris blocking a storm drain in Sekiu is going to require some "outside help" to fix, Tyler said.

A blocked culvert caused flooding Monday night along Marine Drive in Port Angeles.

Tumwater Creek overflowed its banks, causing large Pettit Oil Co. tanks at the company's Marine Drive depot to tilt and a small oil spill at Pettit's other site, at 527 Marine Drive.

The backup also filled Plunkin Shack Cafe's basement with three feet of water.

About 1.4 miles of Tumwater Truck Route, state Highway 117, were closed because of flooding, caused by a combination of heavy rain and alder trees growing along the creek's banks.

Port of Port Angeles Executive Director Jeff Robb used an emergency declaration to have the trees removed Monday night.

_________

Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.

Last modified: November 18. 2009 11:29PM
Posted by Cindi Epona'Bri at 1:16 PM 0 comments

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Step on up pour it out

If you take a seat at The Buzz on any Wednesday night, sounds of coffee brewing, guitars strumming, vocals humming and hands clapping will fill your ears.

People from east and west come specifically for the midweek gathering of local talent and hot beverages because from 6:30-9:30 p.m. the stage is open for anyone with a song, poem or knock-knock joke.

This season opens the fifth year of The Buzz's Open Mic night.

"Any given night, you don't know what you are going to get," said Kelly Thomas, co-founder of the event.

Deb Ferguson, owner of The Buzz, hopes all performers feel invited to perform.

"It's not just musicians. We welcome stand-up comedians, storytellers, magicians and more," she said.

Group therapy

Performers of all ages come to the event, Thomas said.

Three-year-olds, 90-year-olds and whole families have performed.

"Kids started here three years ago, come back later and are extraordinary," Thomas said.

No matter who gets on stage, the atmosphere is welcoming, patrons say.

"The worse you play, the louder they applaud," said Andy Courney of Sequim, who plays Hawaiian slack-key guitar.

Musicians perform at all skill levels, from band members to amateurs off the street.

Richard Terril of Port Angeles, a regular attendee, said he's seen a few poor performances but respects the artists' courage.

"They have the guts to get up there ... I appreciate all performers."

Added Thomas: "For a first-timer, it's a welcome environment and no bias.

"Everyone's even. No tryouts. No belittling."

The format is broad-based with few restrictions beyond refraining from lewdness.

Stage confessions

Participants come for different reasons.

Ron Monroe, a guitar player with the band Acoustic News, likes the sense of community.

"I've made a lot of new friends here, and it's a great place to be entertained."

Dusty Smith of Sequim brought his band The Broken Pick on stage to try a new venue.

"We just formed a band and needed a forum to try some stuff," Smith said.

New residents have embraced the open mic's welcoming atmosphere, too.

Richard Closs, who moved here one month ago, played classic rock songs three weeks ago.

"All the different styles inspire me to play," Closs said.

Thomas attributes such willingness by newbies and veterans to The Buzz's friendliness.

"People network and become friends through this," she said.

"Music is what ties the binds."

Friendly beginnings

The first The Buzz Open Mic was Oct. 5, 2005, when Rebecca Wanagel and Thomas wanted to provide a new avenue for performers.

Thomas admits that pushing for the weekly event was partially selfish.

After taking guitar lessons from Wanagel, she wanted to develop her musical abilities and conquer her fear of performing in public.

It was a learning experience for Thomas and Wanagel, but six months later Wanagel moved to Bellingham.

Victor Reventlow also wanted to perform and found it a good place to deal with a tough time in his life. "Victor considers this place his saving grace," Thomas said. "He looks forward to it all week."

Surprising performance

To the surprise of many long-time attendees, Wanagel returned to perform on Oct. 14.

It had been 31/2 years since she moved away; now she and her fiancé have moved to Joyce.

"I cannot believe I left the Olympic Peninsula," she said between songs.

"This place is magical."

While in Bellingham, she searched for a similar open mic to no avail.

"I couldn't find 'this' anywhere," she said.

"We need to appreciate this."


Reach Matthew Nash at mnash@sequimgazette.com.


Posted by Cindi Epona'Bri at 1:49 AM 0 comments

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Array of attractions, activities across Peninsula this weekend

There's literally something for everyone today and this weekend on the North Olympic Peninsula.

In fact, the array is so vast in the absence of a major community festival or event that each becomes a Trip of the Week on its own -- whether it's a free oil change for a car or a concert by noted guitarist Leo Kottke.

Today's Peninsula Spotlight, the Peninsula Daily News' weekly entertainment guide, puts several entertainment events in the spotlight today..

For information on other activities, see "Things To Do This Weekend" on Page C6.

Here's a sample of what's going on.

Fall fruit show

SEQUIM -- A fall fruit show will be held at Trinity United Methodist Church, 100 Blake Ave., from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.

The show is sponsored by the Olympic Orchard Society and will include more than 50 different varieties of apples and pears.

Speakers will talk about growing and caring for fruit trees and berries.

There will be apples, apple cider and apple crisp to purchase, along with other items, raffles and door prizes.

The Olympic Orchard Society is a chapter of Western Cascade Fruit Society.

For more information, phone Steve Vause at 360-683-8407.

Rider homecoming

PORT ANGELES -- Do you like a parade?

The Port Angeles High School homecoming parade, a tradition for decades, will take place preceding the 7 o'clock football game tonight.

All alumni interested in marching in the parade should meet in the courthouse parking lot, 223 E. Fourth St., at 5 p.m.

Tonight's parade will step out from the courthouse to Civic Field beginning at 5:30 p.m.

For more information, phone 360-452-7602.

Food bank drive

SEQUIM -- With homecoming at Sequim High School already past, members of the Wolves' football team and other fall sports teams will be collecting food the Sequim Food Bank at the Sequim Safeway, 680-F W. Washington St., from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday.

Items needed are food, personal hygiene items, baby or household items.

Financial donations will also be accepted.

All donations will go to the Sequim Food Bank.

For more information, phone Christine Paulsen at 361-461-1866.

Guitarist performs

PORT ANGELES -- The unique fingerpicking style and banter of acoustic guitar virtuoso Leo Kottke comes to the Port Angeles High School auditorium at 8 p.m. today, presented by UpWest Arts.

His between-song ramblings are a mixture of free association, absurdist commentary and dry, Midwestern wit that have become part of public radio's "A Prairie Home Companion."

Tickets are $25 general, $35 reserved, available at Port Book and News in Port Angeles, by phone at 800-992-TIXX or online at ticketswest.com.

Breast cancer walk

SEQUIM -- Blue Mountain Animal Clinic employees and their pets will take part in the first Sequim Breast Cancer Walk on Saturday.

The walk will begin at Safeway, 680-F W. Washington St., at 10 a.m. There is a $25 donation fee to walk. The fee will include a T-shirt, goodie bag and refreshments after the walk.

Proceeds will go to the National Breast Cancer Foundation Inc.

For more information on the walk, phone Safeway at 360-681-2905.

Prayer breakfast

SEQUIM -- Attorney Brad W. Darcus, founder of the Pacific Justice Institute, will discuss issues involving separation of church and state at the 13th annual Clallam County Prayer Breakfast today.

The breakfast will run from 6:45 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. at the Sequim Community Church, 950 N. Fifth Ave.

Pet photos

SEQUIM -- Professional photographer Iantha Frazer will take Christmas card photos of people and their pets at Best Friend Nutrition, 680 W. Washington St., from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. today and Saturday and Friday, Nov. 20 and Saturday, Nov. 21.

Cost for a booking fee is $40.

For a photo appointment, phone the store at 360-681-8458.

Citizenship help

PORT ANGELES -- A free "Citizenship Day" workshop, sponsored by Clallam-Jefferson County Pro Bono Lawyers, 816 E. Eighth St., will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.

Volunteer immigration attorneys, paralegals and interpreters will offer free citizen applications assistance to legal permanent residents eligible for naturalization.

The volunteers will help prepare naturalization applications.

Applicants will be able to consult with professionals to make sure their paperwork is complete.

For more information -- including what documents to bring -- phone 360-417-0818.

Pumpkin patch

PORT HADLOCK -- "Sunfield's Magical Pumpkin Patch" will be held at Sunfield Farm and Waldorf School, 10903 Rhody Drive, Port Hadlock, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. this Saturday and on Halloween, Oct. 31.

The carnival will have pumpkins to choose from; live music from Harmonica Pocket, fiddler Tony Goldenberg, Rhythm Planet and harpist Paula Lalish; baked goods, storytelling and seasonal crafts.

Children can interact with farm animals.

Admission is $4 per person.

Proceeds will be used to support Sundfield educational programs.

For more information, phone the farm at 360-385-3658.

Quilt raffle

SEQUIM -- A quilt raffle to benefit Stitches From the Heart, a nonprofit charitable organization, will begin on Saturday.

Tickets for the raffle are $1 and will be available at QFC, 990 E. Washington St.

The quilt being raffled was donated by the members of the Sunbonnet Sue Quilters of Sequim.

For raffle tickets, or for more information, phone Gayle Cole at 360-681-6229.

Free oil changes

PORT ANGELES -- Free car oil changes will be given to single and widowed women by the men's ministry group of the Lighthouse Christian Center, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.

For a reservation, phone 360-452-8909.

Benefit dinner

PORT ANGELES -- A benefit spaghetti dinner will be held today at the Veterans Center, 216 S. Francis St.

The dinner, sponsored by VFW Post 1024 and Ladies Auxiliary, runs from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Cost is $5, $8 per couple and $3 for children 11 and younger. Diners are requested to bring a monetary or nonperishable food donation for the Port Angeles Food Bank.

For more information on the benefit dinner, phone Venay Money at 360-681-7085.

Chilean concert

PORT ANGELES -- Chilean musicians Andres Condon and Navino, will perform at the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center, 1203 E. Lauridsen Blvd., at 7:30 p.m. today.

Condon, a sound recordist as well as instrumentalist, experiments with mixing sounds he takes directly from nature with improvisations from a plethora of string instruments.

Admission is $12 at the door, and in advance at the fine arts center, 1203 E. Lauridsen Blvd. and at Port Book and News bookstore, 104 E. First St., Port Angeles.

Bell Hill walk

SEQUIM -- The Olympic Peninsula Explorers Volkssport Club will walk Bell Hill at 9 a.m. on Saturday.

Walkers will meet near the Dynasty Restaurant in the QFC Shopping Center, 990 E. Washington St.

The walk is 6.2 miles.

For more information, phone Mary Allen Clark 360-452-0593, or e-mail opepresident@hotmail.com.

Pet costume party

SEQUIM -- The Petco store will host "Howl-o-ween," a "spooky, kooky costume party" for pets and their owners on Saturday.

Pets owners and their animals can have their photos taken at the store, 1205 W. Washington St., beginning at 1 p.m.

Framed digital photos will cost $3.95.

A costume contest for pets and owners will begin at 2 p.m.

All those attending "Howl-o-ween" will receive a free one-pound bag of Hill's Science Diet dog treats.

For more information, phone Petco at 360-582-9283.

Small town shorts

Small Town Shorts, presented by Readers Theatre Plus, will be held at the Old Dungeness Schoolhouse, 2781 Towne Road, Sequim, 7:30 p.m. today and Saturday, and at First United Methodist Church, 110 E. Seventh St., Port Angeles, at 2 p.m. Sunday.

Small Town Shorts is a collaboration of three Northwest playwrights, 27 actors and six directors.

Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at the Odyssey Book Store, 114 W. Front St., Port Angeles; The Buzz, 128 N. Sequim Ave., Sequim; and Pacific Mist, 121 W. Washington St., Sequim.

Tickets sales will go toward Snap, a nonprofit serving individuals with developmental disabilities.

For more information, phone 888-762-1764.

photo to be used 23 biz zumba classes

Zumba party

PORT ANGELES -- A Zumba party will be held at the Clallam County Family YMCA, 302 E. Francis St., at 9:45 a.m. Saturday.

Open to the public and free, the party will feature Michele Hayman, Mikki Reidel and Jinny McCartney, who teach Zumba classes at the YMCA.

Zumba is an aerobic exercise routine inspired by Latin dance.

Zumba classes are held at the YMCA at 5:15 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays; 7 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays; and Mondays at 9:15 a.m.

For more information, phone the YMCA at 360-452-9244.

Free concert

PORT TOWNSEND -- Bloodhag, a Seattle-based, heavy metal, sci-fi band will perform a free, all-ages concert, at the Masonic Hall, 1338 Jefferson St., at 8 p.m. today.

The concert is sponsored by the Friends of the Port Townsend Library

The band plays minute-long metal songs about science fiction authors, throws books at its audiences and loudly proclaims its motto: "The faster you go deaf, the more time you have to read."

Port Townsend band, A Wandering Mind, opens the show.

For more information, phone 360-385-3181.

Tree planting

QUILCENE -- Volunteers are wanted by the Nature Conservancy staff to help plant 100 young trees at Dabob Bay on the conservancy's new property near Quilcene on Saturday.

Learn about the conservancy's plans for restoration and see where a road was removed to allow a more natural flow of rainwater.

Interested volunteers will meet at a park-and-ride near the site at 10 a.m. and carpool to the property because of limited parking.

Plan to stay on site until 3 p.m. and return to your vehicle by 3:30 p.m.

For sign up and more information, phone Barbara French at 206-343-4345, ext. 361, or e-mail bfrench@tnc.org.

Car wash

PORT ANGELES -- A car wash will be held at Angeles Pawn, 619 E. First St., from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. this Saturday and next Saturday, Oct. 31.

Money from the car wash will go to Port Angeles High School band students.

The bank is raising money for a trip to Washington, D.C., where the band will perform and visit historical sites.

For more information about the car wash or trip, phone Leslie Perrizo at 360-452-2536.

Fall fest

PORT TOWNSEND -- The annual Scandia Fall Fest will be held at the Community Center, 620 Tyler St., from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.

The event is sponsored by Thea Foss Lodge of Daughters of Norway.

The fest will include 40 artisans.

For sale will be homemade, handcrafted wares such as note cards, jewelry, wood carving and rosemaling (painted wooden furniture with flower motifs).

Also available will be traditional Scandinavian baked goods.

Admission is free.

For more information, phone Sonja Schoenleber at 360-379-2612 or Carol Guthrie at 360-385-3795.
Posted by Cindi Epona'Bri at 4:57 AM 0 comments

Thursday, October 8, 2009

S'Klallam totem tour

Visit the Tribal Center of the Jamestown S'Klallam, 1033 Old Blyn Highway, Blyn, for a guided tour of the tribe's renowned totem poles. The tour begins at 2 p.m., Friday, Oct. 30, and costs $20 per person.

Participants will get up-close views of the poles while learning about the historical figures and legends that inspired their designs, the tribe's founders, why the S'Klallam are called the "Strong People" and why the wolf is so well respected.

The tour includes a visit to the House of Myths where the totem poles are created. Visitors may see the carving team in action and observe and ask about tools and techniques that transform an old-growth cedar log into a monumental work of art.

Advance reservations are required, 25 participants per tour. Call Eric Adams for reservations at 681-4606. Payment may be made by check (mailed to Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe, Attn. Eric Adams, 1033 Old Blyn Highway, Sequim, WA 98382) or in cash on the day of the tour.


Posted by Cindi Epona'Bri at 3:22 AM 0 comments

Season of Symphony

Fall through spring, the Port Angeles Symphony offers plenty of opportunities to take in classical offerings.

More than 70 members, teenagers to 80-year-olds and living from Clallam Bay to Port Ludlow, make up the symphony and chamber orchestras that will play through May 15.

"It's always been a great mix," said Mark Wendeborn, executive director for the symphony.

The first symphony concert of the 77th season starts at

7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 7, in the auditorium of Port Angeles High School, 304 E. Park Ave., with concerts following on Dec. 12, Feb. 6, March 13 and April 17.

Wendeborn said the first concert is a highlight for him because it features Alex Dugdale, an award-winning tap dancer who will tap to accompaniment by the orchestra.

Adam Stern, musical director for the symphony, said he tries to work new themes into old ideas, such as having a different kind of soloist perform such as Dugdale.

"It's the only piece of its kind," Stern said, "and serves as a great vehicle for a tap dancer to this lovely accompaniment."

Stern is looking forward to his fifth season as conductor for the symphony.

"There's that special cavernous magic that happens with an auditorium filled with people," Stern said.

"The player has the goal to reach that person in the back row. You have to think big."

Wendeborn said the annual holiday show in December is a perennial favorite for concertgoers and that half the audience for all symphony shows comes from Sequim.

"We are well supported by the town," he said.

Tickets

Symphony season tickets are available in several packages, which can be seen at wwwportangelessymphony. org, or by calling 457-5579. They can be purchased at the P.A. Symphony's office, 216 N. Laurel St. C, Port Angeles; The Buzz, 130 N. Sequim Ave.; Port Book and News, 104 E. First, Port Angeles; or before each concert at the venue.

Discounts are available for senior citizens and students.

A new 20-percent discount has been added for first-time season ticket buyers. Those who take this offer will receive a 75th-anniversary

CD and booklet.

Wendeborn said season ticket-holders account for three-fourths of seating.

Individual tickets range from $10 to $25.

Dress rehearsals are at 10 a.m. the morning of each performance.

Tickets are $5 each or $10 for families.

Complimentary tickets are available to elementary students and senior assisted-living residents.

Symphony Sequim Bus

Since, symphony concerts are in Port Angeles, a bus service from three locations in Sequim is available for $55 for all five concerts or $15 per concert.

Prior to each concert, bus riders meet at 5:50 p.m. at SunLand's Gathering Place;

6 p.m. at The Lodge; or 6:10 p.m. at the Fifth Avenue Retirement Center.

For more information, call Barbara Hutter at 683-4743 or the symphony's office.

Chamber orchestra

Those looking for classical music in closer proximity can attend the chamber orchestra's three concerts at Sequim Worship Center, 640 N. Sequim Ave., Sequim.

Stern described it as more intimate and informal but with the same caliber of music as anything done by the symphony.

Performances range from two to 30 members, he said.

The first chamber concert, "Bach! A Colossal Syllable ..." starts at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 17, at the church. Each chamber concert plays two nights - Friday nights in Port Angeles' Holy Trinity Lutheran Church and Saturdays in Sequim.

Concerts are Oct. 16-17; Jan. 15-16; and May 14-15. Tickets cost $12 per person for each concert night.



Special events and opportunities

A simultaneous program, Adventures in Music, put on by the symphony and supporters, goes into area schools to promote music and educate elementary students on instruments and music in general. "Music programs on the West End have been cut so many times that this is the only music education many children will get," Wendeborn said.

Its funding is separate from the symphony's, and musicians perform for free.

The symphony also will host its biggest fundraiser for the concert season on Feb. 27, 2010, at SunLand Country Club.

Opportunities are available to join the Port Angeles Symphony's orchestras, board of directors and Symphony Guild.

Call the office or visit www.portangelessymphony.org for more details.



Reach Matthew Nash at mnash@sequimgazette.com.


Posted by Cindi Epona'Bri at 3:18 AM 0 comments

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Farm tour celebrates food, families, music


THE 13TH ANNUAL Clallam County Harvest Celebration Farm Tour runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.

Admission of $10 per carload covers all nine stops, from Agnew to Sequim to Blyn. Farms offer family activities, hayrides, music, demonstrations, food and drink.

Tickets can be purchased at any farm on the tour. Proceeds from the tour benefit Friends of the Fields.

More information is available at www.FriendsoftheFields.org or 360-417-2279.

Farms on tour include:

• Lazy J Tree Farm, 225 Gehrke Road, east of Port Angeles.

• Freedom Farm, 493 Spring Road, east of Port Angeles.

• Dungeness Bay Vineyard, 63 Evening Star Way, accessible from Lotzgesell Road, north of Sequim.

• Dungeness Valley Creamery, 1915 Towne Road, Dungeness.

• Nash's Organic Produce, 1865 E. Anderson Road, Dungeness.

• Community Organic Gardens of Sequim, 525 N. Fifth Ave., behind St. Luke's Episcopal Church.

• Fairaview Farm, 813 Youngquist Road, off Palo Alto Road, east of Sequim.

• Bekkevar Family Farm, 273054 U.S. Highway 101, east of Sequim.

• Sunshine Herb & Lavender Farm, 274154 Highway 101, Blyn.

Nash's Organic Produce will host a barn dance with Deadwood Revival at 7:30 p.m.

Admission is $8 for adults while children 12 and under dance free.


By Diane Urbani de la Paz
Peninsula Daily News

SEQUIM -- It's time to put yourself out to pasture, with a side trip to the parlor.

That's the milking parlor at the Dungeness Valley Creamery, one of nine farms that are part of the play-outside day formally known as Clallam County Harvest Celebration tour.

"It's like another world out here," said Debbie Brown, who with her family owns the creamery where 63 Jerseys step into the parlor for milking each morning.

On farm-tour day, she meets people from Port Angeles to Seattle who weren't aware of this valley's agricultural abundance.

At the creamery, Brown's cows produce an average 45 pounds of milk daily -- some 14,500 pounds per cow per year.

But then there's Betsy, who recently peaked at 100 pounds in a day.

"She's some cow," Brown said of the 9-year-old.

The Dungeness Valley Creamery also beckons farm-tour participants with hayrides across the pasture, a cheese-making demonstration, sweeping views of the Olympic Mountains and doe-eyed Jersey calves.

People who see them, Brown said, "always ask us if we have a license to keep deer here."

The Browns' dairy and the other farms on the tour are abloom with fresh produce, animals and music to loosen the muscles.

Juanamarimba of Sequim will play at the creamery, and at the Lazy J Tree Farm in Agnew, three acts will perform, from the Jimmy Hoffman Band in the morning to "rock 'n' roll gypsy" Lee Tyler Post and troubadour Tom Schindler in the afternoon.

New to the tour are the Dungeness Bay Vineyard, where Tom and Isobel Miller will show visitors their thriving wine-grape vines, and the Sunshine Herb & Lavender Farm, where Carmen and Steve Ragsdale grow Sequim's signature plant and turn it into a panoply of products.

Community garden

Inside the city, curious participants can see how much food and beauty can fill a 10-by-10-foot plot. The Community Organic Garden of Sequim, an urban farm, is loaded now with ripe tomatoes and blossoming flowers, said coordinator Liz Harper.

"We've had such a good summer," she said, adding, "people who come to the garden will see what can happen when a fifth of an acre is divided up, and how much can be produced in a small space."

Friends of the Fields, Clallam County's farmland advocacy coalition, established the community garden in 2007.

Sequim-area residents rent plots, and local businesses and groups such as the Rotary Club and First Federal have provided amenities including a picnic table and wheelchair-accessible paths.

A second community garden will become available next spring, thanks to the city of Sequim, on Spruce Street at Sunnyside Avenue. Information is available on the city's Web site, www.ci.Sequim.wa.us.

The original community garden behind St. Luke's Episcopal Church on Fifth Avenue has grown into a place people come to be refreshed.

"People who don't have plots just come and walk, or eat their lunch," Harper said. "It's like a little oasis: very peaceful and sweet."

Saturday's farm tour is designed to provide many types of nourishment.

Farming families

One type is face-to-face interaction with farming families and others on the North Olympic Peninsula who are interested in locally grown food.

Participants have the chance to meet men such as Steve Johnson, who was 16 when he took over the Lazy J Tree Farm in Agnew after his father, George Johnson, died.

Steve has built the farm into a diversified 85-acre operation, growing Christmas trees, organic apples, Asian pears and numerous other crops.

Another farm-tour attraction: plain old play outdoors, from hay-bale mazes to pony rides.

And of course there will be abundant food and drink, much of it straight from the farms just beyond the city limits of Sequim and Port Angeles.

Mary Gallagher, co-owner of the Freedom Farm, said the first Saturday in October is a kind of dream day, of frolicking with her horses and the children who love them.

The Freedom Farm, a dairy-turned beef cattle-operation with an equestrian center, will host an array of horse-oriented events during this year's tour.

"For us, the best thing is getting the families out to do a cool activity together," Gallagher said.

Saturday night, singles, couples and families will have an opportunity to work off whatever they sampled and supped on the tour.

Nash's Organic Produce, after a day of pumpkin-decorating, face-painting, hay-riding and stir-frying at its packing shed and front yard in Dungeness, will hold a barn dance with the local band Deadwood Revival at 7:30 p.m.

Admission is $8 for adults while children 12 and under dance free.

________

Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.

Last modified: October 02. 2009 12:52AM
Posted by Cindi Epona'Bri at 4:23 AM 0 comments

Gems show, concerts, fun walks and mandalas among this weekend's offerings



Peninsula Daily News

Gems, sweet songs and Tibetan sand mandalas are among the jewels offered on the North Olympic Peninsula this weekend.

Here are a few of the activities offered this weekend. More can be found via the "Calendar" dropdown on the home page.

Gem show

SEQUIM -- Clallam County Gem & Mineral Society present its annual show "Earth's Treasures 2009" today through Sunday.

The show will be at the Sequim chapter of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula at 400 W. Fir St.

Hours will be from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. today and Saturday, and from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday.

The show will include silent auctions on lapidary material, tools and supplies and silent auctions of gemstones every 20 minutes, along with demonstrations of jewelry-making techniques, stone-cutting and wire-wrapping.

For more information, phone Victor Reventlow at 360-681-5455, Bill Dettmer at 360-565-8301 or Wanda Power at 360-681-2323.

Sand mandala

PORT TOWNSEND -- The final work in creating a Tibetan sand mandala can be viewed at Fort Worden State Park on Saturday.

A senior monk from the Namgyal Monastery, the home of the Dalai Lama, has worked on the sand painting at the USO building since Wednesday.

The public is invited to view the mandala and see a public presentation at 7:30 p.m.

Also on display will be a collection of photographs on loan from the archives of the Tibetan government in exile, as well as a collection of sacred Thangka paintings, some of which will be available for sale.

The exhibition, sponsored by Centrum, is presented by the Tibetan Children's Education Foundation's Cultural Awareness program, a Montana based nonprofit with the primary focus of providing education and basic needs to Tibetans in exile.

The mandala is being created by the Venerable Ngawang Chojor, a senior monk from Namgyal Monastery, now living in Madison, Wisconsin.

Traditionally, most sand mandalas are destroyed shortly after their completion. This is done as a metaphor of the impermanence of life.

Benefit concert

FORKS -- A benefit concert for the Forks Church of Nazarene's Feeding the Five Thousand program is set at the Forks Assembly of God Chruch on Saturday.

The classic country and blue grass gospel concert will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the church at 81 Huckleberry Lane.

Admission is by donation.

Witness, from Port Townsend, and the Gospelairs, from Gig Harbor, will perform.

Feeding the Five Thousand serves free lunches each Tuesday to those in need at the church of the Nazarene soup kitchen.

Fundraising walk

SEQUIM -- The 6th Annual Clinic Fun Walk -- which benefits Sequim's only freee clinic for the uninsured or underinsured -- will be Saturday.

The walk begins at the Guy Cole Mini Convention Center at Carrie Blake Park in Sequim.

Walkers have their choice of a 1-mile walk around the park or a 5-mile route along the Olympic Discovery Trail east of the park to Whitefeather Way.

Registration opens at 8 a.m. and the walk starts at 9 a.m.

Walkers raise money Dungeness Valley Health and Wellness clinic at 777 Fifth Ave., in Sequim, through gaining sponsors.

Entertainment will include face painting, the Happy Tymer Clown troupe and music by the 17-piece Olympic Express Jazz Band and other local performers.

The walk is the annual fundraiser for the clinic. Organizers hope to raise $5,000.

For more information, phone Leslie Lauren at 683-0610.

Sweet Adelines

SEQUIM -- Grand Olympics Chorus, the Olympic Peninsula's local chapter of Sweet Adelines, International, will sing barbershop quartets during two fundraising performances Saturday.

"Still Hooked on Barbershop" will be presented at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., at the Sequim High School auditorium, 601 N. Sequim Ave.

Tickets are $10 in advance from chorus members, Port Book and News, 104 E. First St., Port Angeles; at Frick Drug, 609 W. Washington St., Sequim; and at Crossroads Music, 2100 Lawrence St., Port Townsend. Tickets are $12 at the door.

For more information, phone 360-683-3265.

Marine talk

PORT ANGELES -- Andy Lamb, a marine naturalist, educator, and author, will lecture at the Arthur D. Feiro Marine Life Center, 315 N. Lincoln St., at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.

Lamb will talk about kelp forests and will bring signed copies of his newest book, Marine Life of the Pacific Northwest.

Admission is free, but a donation of $5 is suggested.

The center, now on its winter schedule, is open on weekends from noon to 4 p.m.. or by arrangement.

To reserve a seat at Saturday's lecture, or for more information, phone the center at 360-417-6254.

Scout outing

PORT TOWNSEND -- A picnic for Scouts is set at Fred Lewis Scout Cabin Park on Discovery Road on Saturday.

Food and games will be offered from noon to 3 p.m.

Scouts are asked to wear class B uniforms, and bring desserts to share.

To RSVP, or for more information and directions, phone Wendy or Norm Stevens 360-379-6960.

'History Tales'

PORT ANGELES -- Dale Faulstich, carver and author of the book Totem Poles of the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe, will be the Clallam County Historical Society's "History Tales" speaker Sunday.

His free talk will be at 2:30 p.m. at the Port Angeles City Council Chamber, 321 E. Fifth St.

Throat-singers

PORT TOWNSEND -- Chirgilchin, a group of master throat-singers from Tuva, will perform at Wheeler Theater in Fort Worden State Park, 200 Battery Way, at 7 p.m. Sunday.

"Throat-singing" is a vocal form in which one singer produces two or more voices simultaneously, harmonizing one with another to create richly layered melodies which evoke central Asian steppes and nomadic life.

The group will sing ancient folk songs in the Tuvan language and play their own handmade traditional instruments such as the doshpuluur, a two-stringed lute; igil, a two-stringed fiddle; and dungur, a rattle drum used by Tuvan shamans in their ceremonies.

Tickets are $16 in advance, available at Quimper Sound, 230 Taylor St., and $20 at the door.

To purchase tickets online, visit brownpapertickets.com/event/77566.

Garden class

SEQUIM -- Clallam County Master Gardeners will present "How to Put Your Garden to Bed for the Winter" on Saturday.

The presentation will be at 9:30 a.m. at Henery's Garden Center, 1060 Sequim Dungeness Way.

To make reservations, or for more information, phone 360-683-6969.

Flea market

JOYCE -- A flea market will be held at Crescent Grange Hall, 507634 state Highway 112 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

For a vendor space or for more information, phone Ray Divacky at 360-928-2056.

Music and dance

SEQUIM -- St. Innocent's Academy will present a festival of music and dance at Gardiner Community Center, 980 Old Gardiner Road, at 7 p.m. Saturday

A second performance will be at Quimper Grange, 1219 Corona St., Port Townsend, at 2 p.m., Sunday.

The performances will include sea shanties, folk dancing and Irish instrumental music.

Admission is by donation at the door.

For more information, phone Barbara Thompson, 360-797-0091.

Rummage sale

FORKS -- The Friends of Forks Animals will conduct its annual rummage sale Saturday.

The sale will be from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Bank of America building, 481 S. Forks Ave.

Furniture, clothing, collectibles, toys, games, house wares, tools, electronics, kitchen appliances, dishes, glassware and Christmas decorations will be on sale.

Proceeds go to support Forks animal care.

For more information, phone 360-374.-332 or visit www.friendsoffork sanimals.org.

Last modified: October 02. 2009 12:57AM
Posted by Cindi Epona'Bri at 4:16 AM 0 comments

Kinetic Skulpture race enthusiasts to kreate good karma


By Erik Hidle
Peninsula Daily News

PORT TOWNSEND -- In the 27th year of the Great Port Townsend Bay Kinetic Skulpture Race, krazies have learned one thing for certain: kreate karma.

"I've decided that there is going to be good weather on Sunday no matter what," for the race, said the race's High Priestess for Life Janet Emery, as she realized that a chill was descending upon Port Townsend Bay.

"And if there isn't, well, we will keep going anyways."

Emery, whose role includes the organization of the event, said that, no matter what happens, Port Townsend residents can again expect the kinetic style, flair and all-around strangeness to once again grace the city this weekend.

"We're going to have around 15 skulptures in the race this year," Emery said.

"We have favorites like the local Magic Bus and newcomers such as the Mad Catter, a giant purple cat from Eugene, Ore.

"We also have a few people who have participated in the race before but never made their own enter their very first designs. It's an exciting race that is going to take place."

Each skulpture is a human-powered and structurally questionable all-terrain vehicle that is often more fantastically designed than is reasonably functional.

Still, the course puts participants through a gambit of cold, slow-going and dirty trials including a paddle in the Port Townsend Bay, a deep sand route through Fort Worden State Park and a giant mud pit at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds.


Inaugural skulpture

Two racers who have participated in the past and who will enter their inaugural skulpture in Sunday's race are Aragaorn Dean and Jonathan Henson.

The duo will be entering a contraption made from scrap metal, old lawn chairs, bicycle parts, septic tank risers and a 1984 Toyota Corolla.

"This is the first time we've created a craft," Dean said.

"It's a whole different part of this. It's exciting to be getting close to taking it out on the course."

Henson said their Thursday morning float test in the water was a good omen for the duo's skulpture.

"We took it out in the water today and got to see what is wrong with it," he said.

"It actually floated and went well, so that is a really good thing.

"Still, I think at this point. we will be happy if we just finish."

Organizers expect skulptures to slowly trickle into town as participants and bystanders take in the festivities leading up to Sunday's big race.


Tonight, Saturday

Tonight, at 6 p.m., food and drink will be served at the early K-Bird Hospitality Tea Party at Water Street Brewing, 639 Water St.

At 10:30 Saturday, racers, skulptures and Wanna-be Parade participants will assemble at the U.S. Bank parking lot, 1239 Water St., for the parade, which will begin at noon and travel down Water Street to Monroe Street.

At 1 p.m., Saturday, break and float tests for the skulptures will take place to ensure they are sea-, sand-, street- and mud-worthy.

The Rosehip Kween will be crowned at the Koronation Kostume Unbirthday Tea Party beginning at 8 p.m. Saturday at the American Legion Hall, 209 Monroe St.

The ball is open to those 21 years and older. Admission will be $15 at the door.

Emery said anyone who wants to be a contestant for Rosehips Kween needs to show up in kostume, with a joke, a recipe and a talent.


Sunday's race

The main event begins Sunday with skulptures being presented to the public outside City Hall, 250 Madison St., at 10:30 a.m.

The race will start at "low noon", or 12 p.m., on Monroe St. as participants dash into the first checkpoint at the Salmon Club parking lot for the icy dip into the Port Townsend Bay.

From there, racers will make their way to Fort Worden State Park where they will be tasked with navigating the "kwick" sand.

Following that, the course heads to the Jefferson County Fairgrounds, 4907 Landes St., where the dismal bog mud pit threatens to end the career of a poorly crafted skulpture.

After that, racers must pay homage to the Kosmic Rooster at Cedar Street and San Juan Avenue.

Racers will be afforded a quick rest at Kinetic Koffee on Kearney Street before the final stretch to the finish line at City Hall, 540 Water St.

The race is about four miles long, with spectators being allowed free access to every checkpoint.

Emery said there will be no shuttle bus this year, so people should plan to carpool or bicycle to each location.

The awards ceremony will be at 5:30 p.m. at the American Legion Hall, where the coveted "mediocrity award" will be given to the racer who finishes in the exact middle of the pack.

Following the awards ceremony, the American Legion Hall will erupt into a survivor's post-party at 6 p.m.

________

Reporter Erik Hidle can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at erik.hidle@peninsuladailynews.com.

Last modified: October 02. 2009 12:52AM
Posted by Cindi Epona'Bri at 4:14 AM 0 comments

Will El Niño bring warm, dry winter? Don't bet on it, Peninsula emergency managers say


Click here to zoom...
A pedestrian walks in a light rain beneath a canopy of leaves that are beginning to change into their autumn colors along East Fifth Street in Port Angeles on Thursday. -- Photo by Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News


By Rob Ollikainen
Peninsula Daily News

A moderate El Niño is taking shape across the Pacific Northwest.

That usually means a warmer and drier winter.

University of Washington meteorologist Cliff Mass said there's no reason to expect a big weather event on the North Olympic Peninsula -- "although it could happen," he added.

Emergency planners on the North Olympic Peninsula aren't holding their breath for a quiet winter.

They wouldn't be surprised, in fact, if the winter of 2009-2010 turns out to be just as nasty as the last El Niño season.

"The last El Niño year was 2006," recalled Bob Hamlin, Jefferson County emergency manager.

"We had widespread flooding in November with high winds, and by the middle of the month we had lowland snow. Weather-wise, it's pretty unpredictable."


Micro-climates

Bob Martin, Clallam County utilities manager and former head of emergency management, also questions El Niño forecasts.

"I don't see it as a good predictor," Martin said. "To me, it doesn't correlate very well."

Martin said it's difficult to predict the weather on the Peninsula because of the different micro-climates.

Rivers on the west sides of Clallam and Jefferson counties can rise a foot per hour for 12 straight hours because of downpours, while Sequim stays relatively dry in the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains, Martin said.

Like any other year, Martin is preparing for floods, flood-related erosion and high winds this winter.

"We're going to have some storms this year," Martin said.

An El Niño occurs when the Pacific Ocean warms up near the equator and heats the atmosphere, causing a change in global circulation. They occur every two to seven years, and can last for more than a year.

The jet stream that brings rain to the Pacific Northwest splits up in an El Niño and sends storms down to California and up to Alaska -- at least in theory.

"Frankly, I don't put a lot of stock in it," Hamlin said. "I don't think it really means much around here."

________

Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.

Last modified: October 02. 2009 12:30AM
Posted by Cindi Epona'Bri at 4:11 AM 0 comments

Monday, September 21, 2009

Good vibrations at community drumming circle


Click here to zoom...
Beatriz Giraldo, left, and Geraldine Lesser play in the monthly drumming circle in the Longhouse at Peninsula College. The next percussive gathering, open to newcomers, is set for 6 p.m. Tuesday. -- Photo by Diane Urbani de la Paz/Peninsula Daily News
THE COMMUNITY DRUMMING circle at the Longhouse at Peninsula College, 1502 E. Lauridsen Blvd., Port Angeles, is open to newcomers and players of all levels this Tuesday

Participants are encouraged to join the circle at 6 p.m.; drumming and dancing will go until 8 p.m.

For information, phone 360-452-1212 or 360-461-5188.


By Diane Urbani de la Paz
Peninsula Daily News

PORT ANGELES -- Approach the Longhouse a little late on a certain night, and you hear thunder.

Come inside, and you're enveloped in vibration between hands and skins, wood and beating hearts.

This is the circle, assembled by Beatriz Giraldo and about four dozen of her suddenly drumming, rattle-shaking, dancing companions.

They come once a month to the Peninsula College Longhouse, to make a circle of rhythms, interlocking beats played on drums from all of the Americas -- North, Central and South plus Hawaii -- and from Australia, Africa and Asia.

Giraldo, a mental health occupational therapist, began hosting the Longhouse drumming circles in October 2008.

Once a month she sets up a close-knit corral of seats, with her collection of percussion instruments awaiting anyone who comes without a drum.

At the August circle, newer arrivals such as Carol Dunlap of Port Angeles and Ruby Lanham and Donna George of Sequim joined in, playing along with seasoned Port Angeles musicians such as David Cowan and Kevin McCartney.

No experience fine

"No previous experience is necessary," Giraldo emphasizes. "If a person is already in the circle, and is shy about playing, I don't say anything. I just invite the person, with some percussion instrument," and things seem to flow well from there.

Giraldo, who guided circles in her native Colombia and in New Mexico for more than a decade before starting the one in Port Angeles, has studied and drummed with musicians from Senegal, Guinea, Spain and the United States.

Today, if she has any goal in mind, it's to facilitate a feeling of freedom and connection in the circle. Each member has what it takes to make music, she said.

That one thing is a heartbeat.

At last month's gathering, Giraldo found herself a combined seat and drum: a caja Peruana, just a big box that makes a throaty sound when hands come in contact with it.

Others played African djembes, simple frame drums, beaded gourds, maracas and wooden sticks.

Noelle Swarm of Port Angeles played a drum she adorned with a painted passion flower; Geraldine Lesser brings one made by a member of the Cheyenne tribe and Sharon Eckerle toted hers purchased from a pawnbroker.

Drums prompt dancing

It didn't take long for the dancers' feet to awaken. Valli Sanstrom sashayed around the circle, smiling and playing the sticks, while Diana Somerville raised her frame drum up like a full moon.

"Sometimes you drum and cause a dance; sometimes you dance and cause drumming," Giraldo said. "Either way."

Lesser and Cowan gave the same response to a question about the sensations they feel in the circle.

"I'm full of energy," said Cowan, who's been drumming for a good 34 years now.

"I feel energized," Lesser said. "Everything leaves my mind, and there's just the beat."

Somerville, a science journalist, author and Peninsula Daily News columnist, came to the circle with a taste for rhythm, but no musical training.

"I leave the world of words," she said, and "while I'm no great shakes as a drummer, I am a heartful participant.

"I appreciate it when the skillful drummers do some dazzling riffs. It touches me to see a newcomer to the circle transformed by picking up a drum or a rattle for the first time."

Somerville and Giraldo are co-hosts of the circle now, hoping to give people a place to find their inner musician.

Somerville is fond of the Zimbabwean saying, "If you can walk, you can dance; if you can talk, you can sing," while the Longhouse mix illustrates another thought:

If you have hands and a heart, you were born to drum.

At the end of the August gathering, Giraldo led the circle in singing songs including "May All Beings Be Well and Happy," a Buddhist blessing, and the gospel classic "This Little Light of Mine."

During a pause, Giraldo's cell phone rang, momentarily whisking the room back to modern technology.

Giraldo rose from her seat, eyes wide. "Sorry," she exclaimed, as the drummers laughed.

Flushed and smiling after the music was done, Giraldo said: "I love that you are all here."

She emphasized, though, that she's neither conductor nor teacher.

"I am just there in the circle, with the best healer, the drum, in my hands," Giraldo said, "connecting every person in the joyful sense of unity."

________

Reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@peninsula dailynews.com.
Posted by Cindi Epona'Bri at 2:30 AM 0 comments

Friday, September 18, 2009

Twilight author a part-time resident of Peninsula on which her books are set


Click here to zoom...
Twilight author Stephenie Meyer.


By Jeff Chew
Peninsula Daily News

NORDLAND -- World-famous Twilight series author Stephenie Meyer bought a million-dollar waterfront home on Marrowstone Island two years ago -- and has been apparently living there with her family on a part-time basis.

The surprise news of her ownership was revealed when the Jefferson County Public Utility District updated its water service assessment records this week.

The Pennsylvania Dutch-style farmhouse is on 5.25 acres off the end of Jansen Road on Marrowstone Island, east of Port Townsend, and overlooks Admiralty Inlet's shipping lanes between Puget Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

Neighbors say it's mostly a summer home for Meyer and her husband and family -- they spend the rest of the year in Scottsdale, Ariz. -- and that they usually have security guards and "want their privacy."

It's been a "well-known secret around the island," said one neighbor.

The Meyer family is apparently not in the home at present.

Countrywide Financial sold the home to Meyer and her husband, Christian, for $1.33 million in 2007, according to Jefferson County records. It was listed as being for sale for $1.48 milion.

Meyer is responsible for bringing thousands to the North Olympic Peninsula, although fans of her best-selling, four-novel series about vampires and teen love are headed to the other side of it, traveling to Forks, the setting for the books.

The Arizona author has said she chose Forks because of its reputation for rain and gloom.

The town just last weekend celebrated Stephenie Meyer Weekend, a Twilight-themed coinciding with the birthday of the saga's fictional heroine.

Though the festival carried her name, Meyer did not attend.

Her property on the much-drier northeastern side of the Peninsula is listed with the Meyers as trustees in the Jefferson County tax assessment roles under a Scottsdale address.

Phone calls by the Peninsula Daily News to the Meyers' home in Arizona requesting comment were not returned. Despite her connection through her books with the Peninsula, she had never announced her Marrowstone Island purchase.

Neighbors knew

While the Meyers' purchase of the 3,675-square-foot three-bedroom, 3 ½-bath home has been kept under wraps, many Marrowstone Island residents already knew about their famous neighbor.

"I know, but I don't talk about it," said Lillian Lovato, the Meyers' next-door neighbor who has never met them. "It's just a summer home.

"They have a lot of security down there and want their privacy. I can see where it could be a real problem there because [Twilight tourists] will turn around in my driveway," a gravel drive that winds through woods leads from the end of Jansen Road to the home.

"It's well-known secret around the island, but no one is talking out of respect for their privacy," she said.

"I think she kind of plays it low-key."

Home remodeled

Carol Fletcher, owner-broker with Hadlock Realty & Development who specializes in waterfront property and had previously shown the home, said the house has undergone a great deal of remodeling.

"It looks better now," Fletcher said, after she saw photographs of it through the real estate Multiple Listing Service.

The home built in 1986 was listed as having a dry sauna off the master bath, a solarium and atrium, a main-level apartment with a separate entry, and a recreational vehicle and boat garage.

It has stairs from the yard to the beach and fronts about 220 feet of shoreline with tideland rights.

Fletcher and other real estate agents at her office on Chimacum Road said they hoped the news of Meyer's ownership will draw more interest in the area, possibly generating tourist dollars to help fuel Port Hadlock's economy.

Growth industry

Twilight tourism has become a growth industry in Forks, where thousands of fans have flocked to the setting of their favorite novels.

A total of 16,186 people passed through the Forks Visitor Center in July, doubling June's number of 8,702, and in one month nearly reaching the entire year's total for 2008 -- 18,485 people.

The numbers even surpass the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center, which had about 14,000 people pass through in July.

The visitor center in the logging community of Forks has in the past primarily focused on teaching people about logging and coordinating tours of the local natural resources.

Currently, however, it's all about vampires, werewolves and Forks, thanks to the Twilight saga of the love affair between the very human Bella Swan and vampire Edward Cullen.

Meyer and her husband, who goes by the nickname Pancho, have three sons.

She dreamed up the Twilight series in June 2003, she has said on her Web site, www.stepheniemeyer.com.

While asleep one night, she dreamed of a girl and a vampire in a meadow.

When she awakened and recorded that dream, it became the basis of the first book, Twilight, which she wrote in about three months.

She picked Forks after an Internet search for the "rainiest town in America."

Bill Graham, Jefferson County Public Utility District water resource manager, said he recognized Meyer's name on the district's water assessment roles for Marrowstone after the agency last year completed a new water system to the island.

"Well, I guess this is going to be a big deal," Graham said.
Posted by Cindi Epona'Bri at 4:30 AM 0 comments

Dungeness Massacre occurs on September 21, 1868.



Aerial photograph of New Dungeness Spit, July 19, 1990
Courtesy U.S. Geological Survey


Aerial photo of tip of New Dungeness Spit, July 12, 1994
Courtesy Washington Department of Ecology


New Dungeness Lighthouse, ca. 1868
Courtesy National Archives


Silver earrings taken from a Tsimshian woman during the Dungeness Massacre of 1868
Courtesy The Seattle Times (July 11, 1965)


HistoryLink.org Essay 5743 : Printer-Friendly Format

Just before dawn on September 21, 1868, 26 S’Klallam Indians, led by a man known locally as Lame Jack (or Nu-mah the Bad by his tribesmen), conduct a raid on a party of 18 Tsimshian Indians camped on New Dungeness Spit. The Tsimshians were traveling by dugout canoe to Fort Simpson near Prince Rupert, British Columbia, from Puyallup where they had been harvesting hops. They had decided to wait for daylight and for a dense fog to lift before making the 22-mile journey north across the Strait of Juan de Fuca to Vancouver Island. Within a short period of time, the S'Klallam massacre 17 Tsimshian Indians, but one woman, wounded and left for dead, escapes to tell the story. It is the last major bloodletting among Indians in this area.

The S’Klallam’s raid was in retaliation for the Tsimshians stealing one of Lame Jack’s wives and his son some nine months earlier. Raiding other tribes for slaves was a common practice of Coastal Indians and a payment could be made to remedy the wrong. As no compensation was made to Lame Jack or to the S’Klallam tribe, revenge was seen as the only means to right the wrong done to a tribal member.

The S’Klallam raiders crept up on the Tsimshian’s camp and collapsed their canvas shelter, trapping the occupants inside. During the brief skirmish, the raiders killed 17 Tsimshians, 10 men, 5 women, and 2 children, using clubs, knives, and guns. The S’Klallams suffered one casualty, Lame Jack. The raiders then set about pillaging the camp and taking souvenirs. Years later, Joe Johnson, a participant in the Dungeness Massacre, said that Lame Jack was trying to abscond from the spit with a small leather-covered trunk containing several gold coins, silver jewelry, and trinkets, when he was shot and killed by Slay-itst, a fellow S’Klallam. Apparently Lame Jack’s accomplices despised him and were waiting for such an opportunity. His body was left on the spit along with the Tsimshian victims.

There was one survivor of the massacre, a 17-year-old pregnant woman named Nusee-chus (or Chichtaalth) who had been clubbed and knifed numerous times, stripped of her jewelry, and left for dead. Soon after the killing frenzy, the S’Klallams left the spit and Nusee-chus was able to make her way to the New Dungeness Lighthouse.

Lighthouse keeper Henry Blake, who may have witnessed the massacre through a telescope from the tower, gave the wounded woman shelter in the lighthouse. Some of the S’Klallam raiders tracked Nusee-chus to the lighthouse and demanded her return. Blake, feeling secure inside the fireproof brick lighthouse, refused their demand and the Indians went away. Later that day, Henry Blake took Nusee-chus to the home of Benjamin Rainey in Dungeness, whose wife was from the Tsimshian tribe, to convalesce.

Local settlers gathered up the Tsimshian’s remaining property and buried the murdered victims on what has been named Graveyard Spit. After about six weeks, Nusee-chus recovered her health and was sent to Victoria, B.C. where she learned that her husband had died of smallpox two weeks previous. From there, she was sent home to Fort Simpson aboard the Hudson's Bay Company steamer Otter, together with most of the recovered loot. The Bureau of Indian Affairs also sent along money and gifts (called mamoke-kloshe-tumtums), in an effort to make peace between the Tsimshians and the S’Klallams. U. S. Commissioner James G. Swan (1818-1900) later reported, “The Indians were all satisfied.”

With the assistance of S’Klallam tribal chief, Chetzemoka (ca. 1808-1888), called by settlers Duke of York, all the S’Klallams involved in the massacre were identified and arrested by Indian Agent Charles S. King and U. S. Commissioner James Swan. The S’Klallam men were transported to the Skokomish Indian Reservation where they were shackled to balls and chains, and sentenced to hard labor digging stumps. Through the intercession of Chief Duke of York, most of the prisoners were released after about four months and the rest a short time later. The government decided the murders had been a dispute between tribes and therefore not under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Approximately two years after being abducted, Lame Jack’s wife and son successfully escaped from the Tsimshians and made it back to the S’Klallam tribe.

According to local history, about 1920, a Tsimshian Indian landed on New Dungeness Spit near the lighthouse in a dugout canoe. Edward A. Brooks, the lighthouse keeper at New Dungeness from 1902 to 1925, met him and they talked about the Dungeness Massacre. The man revealed to Brooks that he was the baby born to the Tsimshian woman rescued by Henry Blake in 1868. Brooks was delighted and told the man that Henry Blake’s son, Richard, present during the incident, lived nearby in Dungeness. The man promised to visit Richard Blake, but he never did. He apparently paddled back to Vancouver Island instead, and never returned to New Dungeness.

Sources:
Edward S. Curtis, “The Dungeness Massacre,” in The North American Indian, Vol. 9 (Seattle: E. S. Curtis, 1913); Harriet U. Fish, Tracks, Trails, and Tails in Clallam County, State of Washington (Carlsborg, WA: Harriet U. Fish, 1983); James C. Isom,New Dungeness Lighthouse (Sequim, WA: United States Lighthouse Society, New Dungeness Chapter, 2000); Dungeness: The Lure of a River ed. by Virginia Keeting (Port Angeles, WA: The Sequim Bicentennial Committee & Daily News at Olympic Printers, 1976); Mary Ann Lambert Vincent, Dungeness Massacre and Other Regional Tales (Mary Ann Lambert Vincent, 1961); Mary Lou Hanify, "The Massacre at Dungeness Spit," The Seattle Times Charmed Land Magazine, July 11, 1965, p. 3; Genevieve Miller, "Dungeness Massacre," Tacoma News Tribune,March 5, 1972; Kathy Duncan, “Dungeness Massacre,” Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe Website accessed September 2004 (www.jamestowntribe.org).

By Daryl C. McClary, September 15, 2004
Posted by Cindi Epona'Bri at 1:30 AM 2 comments

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

A first-class ride


by Sandra Frykholm
Sequim Gazette

Weddings, proms, even special birthdays call for an extra touch of class — and nothing says “class” like a stretch limo at the curb.
Fred Aguirre and his wife, Carol, operate Sequim Livery to offer that touch for special occasions in Sequim. With leather seating for up to six people, mood lighting and your choice of music, the limo is more than just a way to get from point A to point B.
The Aguirres are available for transportation to parties, to Sea-Tac Airport or even a wine tour around the peninsula.
The Lincoln stretch limo is just another step in the Aguirres’ long driving career. Fred Aguirre had a childhood dream of driving a train.
“I wanted to be an engineer,” he said, but by the time he decided to pursue it, he was too old. Instead, he went into big-rig trucking, hauling heavy equipment and driving moving vans.
The heavy work of loading and unloading moving vans took its toll, and his doctor treated injury after injury.
Finally, Aguirre said, “He retired me.”
The couple had lived in their truck for years and didn’t know what they would do. But for the previous couple of years, Fred’s childhood friend Doug Cronin pestered Fred to move to Gardiner as caretaker of Cronin’s home and property there.
Then Cronin called with a new offer. He had found a good buy on a limo and wanted Aguirre to operate a limo service in Sequim for him. Cronin knew Aguirre could drive and eventually admitted that he already had bought the limo.
The Aguirres agreed to try it.
“We had asked God to provide us with a little retirement home, a nice little community, no traffic,” Aguirre said.
They arrived in Gardiner and found just what they had imagined.
“It’s been so fantastic,” Fred said. “We fell in love with the area.”
Both Fred and Carol Aguirre have Class A chauffeur licenses so they work together at Sequim Livery. They’ve joined the Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce.
“The chamber has been a big help,” Aguirre said. Reggie’s Limousine in Port Angeles also helped with the special requirement to operate at Sea-Tac Airport.
The Aguirres can be reached at 775-8089 or by e-mail at sequimlivery@yahoo.com.
Reach Sandra Frykholm at sfrykholm@sequim
gazette.com.
Posted by Cindi Epona'Bri at 11:32 PM 0 comments

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Big squid on the hook to be in markets

Big squid on the hook to be in markets; researchers study reason for mass migration to cooler waters
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Gary Willmett, on his fishing boat White Eagle in Neah Bay with some of the Humboldt squid he's recently caught. -- Photo for Peninsula Daily News by Donna Barr


By Tom Callis
Peninsula Daily News

Researchers are attempting to learn why masses of subtropical Humboldt squid have moved north, where commercial fishermen in the Strait of Juan de Fuca say the voracious cephalopods are gobbling their catches.

Meanwhile, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife is allowing commercial fishermen to sell the large Humboldt squid that they accidentally catch as they troll for salmon.

Since the arrival of large numbers of the jumbo squid in the western end of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean off LaPush is a recent phenomenon, the state was unsure until last week if state regulations allow fishermen to sell squid that they don't mean to hook, said Greg Bargmann, Fish and Wildlife marine ecosystem manager.


'Never been done'

"This has never been done before," he said. "We had to dig out the regulations.

"We didn't know if a provision existed."

Allowing sales help commercial fishermen such as Gary Willmett of Neah Bay, who said he has between 1,000 and 2,000 pounds of squid he inadvertently caught while fishing for salmon on his boat, White Eagle.

Kent Baltz, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration oceanographer in Santa Cruz, Calif., said that two National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration researchers from his office are arriving in Westport today to study the squid.

They will spend the next few days tagging squid with electronic monitors.

That will allow researchers to know where they are spending their time and for how long.

The usual range of Humboldt squid -- which eat lanternfish, shrimp, mollusks, salmon and other fish -- is from the southern tip of South America to Southern California.

Warmer water?

Baltz said that a "strong hypothesis" to explain the swarms of squid so far north is that the ocean water is warmer than usual.

NOAA called July the fifth-warmest month ever recorded for global ocean surface water temperatures.

Fueled by an El Niño weather pattern, National Weather Service meteorologist Jay Albrecht said, the waters off Western Washington are between 1 and 2 degrees above normal.

But, he added, the waters off Neah Bay have been average this summer at around 55 degrees.

The earliest it is known that Humboldt squid reached Washington state's coast was in the 1930s after a brief warming trend, Baltz said.

They were seen in the summer for five years that decade before disappearing.

The latest invasion began in 2004, with large numbers of squid reported seasonally in Alaska and British Columbia as well as Washington state.

They've come back annually since, and this year, fishermen are reporting the largest numbers yet.


Threat to fish

Willmett said the squid are more than just a curiosity -- they are a threat to fish stocks and his livelihood.

Willmett, 55, said the squid -- which can grow about 6 ½-feet long and weigh more than 100 pounds -- have been eating the salmon right off his hooks while he trolls the Strait in his 39-foot boat.

"They take the fish right off in front of you," he said.

"All you get is the jaw, if you are lucky."

In four days of fishing earlier this month, Willmett said he caught two king salmon, 42 silver salmon -- and 30 squid.

Normally, he would have caught up to 100 salmon, he said.

While Willmett said the squid exist in such large numbers that he hasn't been able to avoid them this summer, there are no official estimates of the local squid population.

Although the state will allow him to sell the squid he accidentally caught, Willmett said what he really wants is to be able to troll for the squid in order to bring down their numbers.

"I want an opportunity to put a dent in them, if it can be done," he told Bargmann on his cell phone Friday.

"Unfortunately, the thing is, they are getting in my back pocket."

But Bargmann said a decision on whether that will be allowed won't be made until next year.

"We are concerned about what the bycatch of salmon might be," he said.

While Bargmann said the squid are eating a lot of salmon, he expects them to leave soon, likely this month, once the water temperature begins to drop.

"I don't think it's a major threat," he said. "I don't think it will last very long."

But Bargmann admits that if the squid keep returning during the summer, the state would be concerned about their effect on the fishing industry.

And the question of whether they will return isn't an easy one for scientists to answer.

Baltz called that a "big unknown."

While it is believed that warming ocean waters is prompting the creatures to call the Pacific Northwest coast a seasonal home for now, he said no one can say how long they will keep coming back.

Beaks, teeth

When researchers work with the squid, they may find that handling the creatures is not an easy task, as Willmett will attest to.

Not only are their beaks dangerous, but their suction points also have sharp teeth on them.

"They will draw blood," Willmett said.

"They will give you a hickey like you never had before."

Baltz said the squid were rare to be seen even off most of the southern California coast until roughly 10 years ago, and have been wreaking havoc on ecosystems all along the West Coast.

"They are pretty opportunistic hunters," he said, adding that they will eat 15 percent of their body weight daily.

"For us, that is 30 to 40 meals a day."

Russ Vetter, NOAA fisheries resource director at the Southwest Fisheries Science Center in La Jolla, Calif., agreed.

"They're voracious little critters," he said.

"If habitat is available, they move on up to feed until the water is cold enough to turn home."

________

Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.

Last modified: September 12. 2009 11:52PM
Posted by Cindi Epona'Bri at 8:51 PM 0 comments

Crews save ocean life by cleaning up lost gear

By JEFF CHEW
PENINSULA DAILY NEWS

PORT TOWNSEND, Wash. -- An operation to clear Puget Sound and the North Olympic Peninsula's waters of derelict commercial fish nets has cleared more than 10,000 pounds of nets that trapped and killed thousands of salmon, bottom fish, crab, sea mammals and diving birds.

"We're going full blast now," said Jeff June, a Northwest Straits Commission consultant who is overseeing diving operations out of Port Townsend and Port Angeles, as well as Everett and Tacoma, that began in July.

June said that, through August, fish net cleanup crews - made up of commercial divers who normally walk the ocean floor for sea cucumbers and geoducks and see the dangers the nets pose - pulled 173 nets, many of them choked with the remains of sea life that include seals and porpoises.

Decades of thriving Puget Sound commercial and recreational fisheries have left tons of old fishing gear behind, as bad weather, mechanical failures and human error caused fishermen to lose or abandon their gear.

Thousands of old crab pots litter the sea floor, and thousands of nets are caught in rocky outcroppings and draped along waterways.

Gill nets and crab pots used by commercial and sport fishers can continue to trap sea life long after the original owners have abandoned the gear.

The Northwest Straits Commission has set a goal to clear 90 percent of existing derelict fishing nets from Puget Sound by 2012 through the Northwest Straits Initiative, which surveys and removes lost fishing gear.

The Northwest Straits Foundation earlier this year was awarded $4.6 million in economic stimulus funding through a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Over the next 18 months, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds will provide resources to find and remove an estimated 3,000 derelict nets that remain in the Sound.

The project is employing 38 people and restoring 645 acres of marine habitat, Northwest Straits officials said.

Ginny Broadhurst, Northwest Straits Commission director, said the stimulus grant has allowed the underfunded derelict gear program started in 2002 to greatly expand from one original diving boat out of Port Angeles, to four boats today.

"This is going to allow us to stop writing grant proposals and just get the project done," Broadhurst said, adding that the last grant was for $250,000, and did not stretch nearly as far as the new funding this year that will last for 16 more months.

Brian Santman, who owns the diving boat Tenacious, is operating out of the Port of Port Townsend Boat Haven marina, and his divers are covering the waters off East Jefferson County.

Tom Cowan, Northwest Straits Commission project manager said most crews right now are focusing on the San Juan Islands "because that's the highest priority today."

Broadhurst said she did not expect gear removal boats to move back into the Strait until this winter.

Since the Northwest Straits Commission started pulling derelict gear from the Sound and Strait of Juan de Fuca in 2002, the agency reports diving operations have removed 1,287 nets covering 311 acres and weighing 217,747 pounds.

Derelict nets contained 62,796 live and dead animals including 32 dead marine mammals, 650 dead birds, 1,366 live and dead fish and 60,748 live and dead invertebrates, the commission said.

The program has trained 78 divers to perform the work, including 66 from the federal Department of Defense and 12 tribal divers.

Information from: Peninsula Daily News, http://www.peninsuladailynews.com
Posted by Cindi Epona'Bri at 4:56 PM 0 comments

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Cedar Creek eatery closing today as bakery heats up


Click here to zoom...
Pasta maker Jason Thompson hangs fresh angel hair up to dry Thursday afternoon at Sequim's Bell Street Bakery. Thompson is likely to spend more time in the factory after his other job as a waiter at Cedar Creek in Sequim ends; Cedar Creek will serve its last lunches and dinners today. -- Photo by Diane Urbani de la Paz/Peninsula Daily News
CEDAR CREEK IS open for lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and dinner from 5 p.m. today.

The Bell Street Bakery is open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays at 173 W. Bell St., Sequim.

Other bakeries in Sequim include The Sauer Kraut, at the intersection of Old Olympic Highway and Sequim-Dungeness Way, and Pane D'Amore, 150 S. Fifth Ave.

Peninsula Daily News


By Diane Urbani de la Paz
Peninsula Daily News

SEQUIM -- Cedar Creek, a Sequim restaurant known for its upscale Italian cuisine, is going out with a stomp today, as its chefs turn their attentions to a slightly younger operation.

Cedar Creek opened its doors three years ago at 665 N. Fifth Ave., with chef Doug Seaver, formerly of Fins in Port Townsend, at the helm.

Last year, its baker, Roger Stukey, planted in Cedar Creek's kitchen the seeds of the Bell Street Bakery, an offshoot business.

In February, the bread and pasta factory opened at 173 W. Bell St., selling focaccia, ciabatta, Sequim sourdough, cinnamon rolls, baguettes and other goods, many made with locally grown grain.

Seaver said he, Stukey and their business partners Emily Mills and Claudia Cardinale decided it was time to redirect their energies by shuttering Cedar Creek and building up the bakery.

He added that there are "a lot of personal reasons" for the decision. The recession has also hurt Cedar Creek, whose prices are on the upper end of the spectrum in Sequim.


Bakeries flourishing

Across the country, however, bakeries have weathered the economic meltdown relatively well.

In addition to Bell Street, two other locally owned bakeries, The Sauer Kraut and Pane D'Amore, opened to vigorous demand in Sequim this spring.

Seaver said he had to lay off "about a dozen" Cedar Creek employees, but several have found work in other local restaurants.

One of the waiters, Jason Thompson, is a one-man illustration of the north Peninsula's economy: he's a construction worker who watched jobs in that industry dry up; the fine dining establishment where he's been working is about to close -- but he still has a part-time job he enjoys: pasta maker at Bell Street Bakery.

He also sells Bell Street-made breads, croissants and muffins at farmers markets across Clallam County.

Thompson said he didn't feel Cedar Creek was doing badly.

"It was just a matter of the owners wanting to focus on what's going on here," at the bakery where he makes ravioli, angel hair, tagliatelle and other organic pastas.



More items at bakery

Seaver added that Bell Street's offerings will soon include sandwiches, soups and "more savory and sweet items," made with ingredients from local sources.

Thompson, as he hung angel hair up to dry on Thursday afternoon, planned next to make wheat-bran pasta with grain from Nash's Organic Produce in Dungeness.

"We're going to clear out Nash's [wheat] field," Thompson said.

"We have goals and visions for the bakery," Seaver added. "We're going to expand the menu and be more aggressive with commercial accounts."


Last public event

At Cedar Creek today, lunch and dinner will be served, and "our last public event will be the grape stomp," at Olympic Cellars, Seaver said.

The stomp is part of the first Sons of Italy Fall Fest from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday at Olympic Cellars, 255410 U.S. Highway 101, just east of Port Angeles.

Seaver's homemade meatballs, Caesar salad and tiramisu will be available for purchase while festival-goers learn and play bocce ball, partake in an oyster-shucking contest and trample barrels of red-wine grapes.

Seaver expressed gratitude to Cedar Creek's patrons for their loyalty over the past three years.

"Everyone has been unfailingly generous in their support and encouragement," he and his partners wrote in a statement.

They also thanked Paul Thompson, the owner of the building, "who aside from being a great landlord has always been our best patron."

________

Sequim-Dungeness Valley reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladaily news.com.
Posted by Cindi Epona'Bri at 2:59 PM 1 comments

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Wheat grows again on Peninsula: WSU testing 44 varieties


Click here to zoom...
Nash Huber and his wife, Patty McManus-Huber, are now growing soft white and hard red wheats in a 12-acre field just north of Sequim. Though organic wheat hasn't been a common crop in the Dungeness Valley in recent decades, Washington State University wheat breeders are finding it a viable, protein- and mineral-rich product. -- Photo by Diane Urbani de la Paz/Peninsula Daily News


By Diane Urbani de la Paz
Peninsula Daily News

By Diane Urbani de la Paz

Peninsula Daily News

DUNGENESS -- An old crop whose past popularity is evidenced by the Clallam Co-op grain elevator towering over West Washington Street in Sequim is flourishing again in the Dungeness Valley.

The Dungeness River flows into a glacier-sculpted valley, a place where dairies and other growing concerns once thrived. Now, many of the farms are gone, having given ground to subdivisions and shopping centers -- but not entirely.

Soft white wheat for pastry and pasta plus hard reds for bread are among the newest products being tried on land northwest of Sequim.


12 scrutinized acres

And this harvest season, 12 acres leased to Nash's Organic Produce are getting special scrutiny: Washington State University wheat breeders Steve Jones and Kevin Murphy are testing the wheats -- 44 winter and spring varieties -- to determine their viability in wet, cool Western Washington.

So far the grain is looking good. On an Aug. 24 field walk, farmer Nash Huber waded into the amber waves, and then gave a kind of crash course in growing food without herbicides and pesticides.

Replacing the Canada geese that frequent these fields earlier in the year was a small flock of gardeners, farmland preservation activists and at least one member of the valley's new generation of growers.

Joe Bridge, who with his wife, Lisa, grows oats and wheat on the Lamb Farm southwest of Sequim, was among those came to see and taste the Nash's wheat.

He and Huber did that via tooth and nail, kind of like scratching out a living as a small-scale farmer.

Huber demonstrated, taking a kernel of hard red wheat in his palm and then planting it between his teeth. If you can't dent it with your fingernail, and if it has a firm, al dente feel in your mouth, it's ripe, Huber explained.

"This is ready, Sam," he told Sam McCulloch, the Nash's soil preparation and equipment manager who's worked on the farm since he was a teenager.

Dry, sunny days

So McCulloch and his combine have gotten to work, but only during the dry, sunny days -- or mere hours -- when moisture won't overtax the machinery.

If you want to harvest hay and grain in the Dungeness Valley, you had better get out there right after the morning fog lifts and go straight on until just before the evening dew, McCulloch said.

The trial crop is yet to be reaped; McCulloch expects he and Murphy will get to it next week. The wheats will then go to a WSU laboratory for analysis of their nutrient content and yield per acre.

Across the nation, wheat yields have risen, McCulloch said, yet the grain has grown nutrient-poor, compared with the crops of the past.

At Nash's Organic, Huber and his crew mean to buck that trend, and they have two strong hands helping them in that regard.

One is that the Dungeness River delivers a rich supply of minerals to the valley. Another is that the soil is glacial till, and Huber couldn't ask for a more fertile foundation.

The trial wheat field, however, used to be a turf farm, and it was in rough shape when Huber leased it and began preparing it for an organic crop.

For two years, he and his crew fed the soil the old-fashioned way, with a blanket of "cover crop" -- rye and vetch grown at Nash's -- plus a layer of soft wood chips and young hay.

Once the wheat was planted last fall, Huber could be seen tearing through the field with the organic farmer's chemical-free ally: a Lely tine weeder attached to his tractor.

Tests of wheat crops

While this will be WSU's first test of the winter wheat varieties, Murphy and Jones conducted a first analysis of the spring wheats in 2008 -- and showed heartening numbers.

"The protein was so high in last year's trials, I thought Kevin had made a mistake," said Huber. "I had him [test] it again."

According to the analysis, the organic hard red varieties -- which have names such as ruby, scarlet, comet and reliance -- go as high as 15.5 percent protein.

The soft whites, such as Louise, Zak and White Marquis, go from 11.2 to 12.6 percent.

Huber gives much of the credit to the river running past his field.

"One of the real benefits of growing in the Dungeness Valley is the water we get," he said.

The river carries sediment and minerals down from the Olympic Mountains, and "our calcium values are off the scale," along with good levels of other minerals such as iron, zinc and magnesium.

"That's the Dungeness River water," Huber said.

And unlike much of the country's farmland, he added, this valley remains rich in topsoil.

"This is all flood plain. You've got several feet of topsoil here. That helps a lot."

Huber grows scores of other crops, from spinach to carrots to strawberries, on some 400 acres across the Dungeness Valley. As people continue to migrate into the Sequim area, he'll strive to keep the land providing food for them.

Huber also seeks to keep his business viable by diversifying -- adding crops such as wheat to the mix -- and spreading the message that the Dungeness Valley is prime food-growing territory.

McCulloch, meanwhile, is preparing for the last day of the wheat harvest: Tuesday, weather permitting.

He rhapsodized a little on Friday about a particular planting of red wheat, still ripening in the late-summer sun.

"We want it to be perfect. It's a special crop for us, one of our best ever," he said of the swath in eastern Dungeness. "It's a beautiful field."

________

Sequim-Dungeness Valley reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.

Last modified: September 06. 2009 10:17PM
Posted by Cindi Epona'Bri at 11:47 PM 0 comments

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Sequim gets new city manager

September 2nd, 2009 - 2:55am

(Sequim) -- The city of Sequim has picked a new top boss.

Former chief deputy insurance commissioner for Washington State Vernon Stoner will become the new city manager in Sequim.

The city council picked Stoner last night out of list of four finalists for the position.

His contract is expected to be finalized in two weeks and Stoner may be on the job by the first part of October.

Sequim has been without a permanent city manager for more than a year.

Efforts to hire a new top boss late last year fell through last November when all three top candidates rejected the job.

Linda Herzog has been serving as interim city manager, but her contract is up. Sequim's city attorney will act as city manager until Stoner gets on the job.
Posted by Cindi Epona'Bri at 4:09 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

RV Gypsies


by MATTHEW NASH
Sequim Gazette

The Streett family took what might be the longest road trip ever to get to Sequim.
On Aug. 12, the family of four, Robert, Josslyn, Robby and Sawyer, hit the two-year milestone from when they began their 14-month, 31,000 mile RV trek from their native Chino Hills, Calif., to find the perfect place to live.
After 28 states and 71 overnight stops, Sequim became their home.
“When we arrived here, the massive ‘greenery’ and running water was so foreign to us,” Robert said. Staying here three weeks in December 2007, the family experienced snow and wet conditions, which suited them just fine.
‘Some think I’m crazy’
“Some think I’m crazy to move here, but I wanted to experience ‘weather’ and the seasons,” Josslyn said. “I love a cold beach with driftwood.”
Sequim was one of two places where they had extended stays; the other was with relatives in Triangle Lake, Ore.
Besides the area’s beauty, Sequim residents’ hospitality won them over. On Christmas Day, a man in a Chinese restaurant gave Robert his telephone number to call if he needed anything and suggested a number of things for them to do during their stay.
“People are 99 percent of the
time helpful and want to help,” Robert said.
“In metropolitan life, where it’s busier, it’s not that people don’t want to help, it’s just that their priorities are different.”
“People just seem so happy to be here,” Josslyn said.
On Oct. 17, they will celebrate living in Sequim for one year.
History of the trip
Calling themselves RV gypsies now, the Streetts weren’t always nomads, but growing up in Southern California, Robert and Josslyn always desired a change.
“Even before having kids, we wanted to have a place that our parents didn’t choose for us,” Josslyn said.
Following the deaths of Robert’s parents, he proposed the RV trip.
“There were so many reasons why we couldn’t have done it.
We aren’t risk-takers by nature,” Robert said.
“We decided that we wouldn’t let fear get the best of us.”
Selling most of their possessions, the family was at peace with the situation.
“We found the happiest people
are those who make do,”
Josslyn said.
Threat of fuel prices
The family budgeted for their trip to last one year and they lived in their 2008 Titanium fifth-wheel trailer throughout. However, they didn’t anticipate rising fuel costs as diesel peaked at $5 a gallon.
The family said their staple food was peanut butter and jelly sandwiches but not because of high gas prices.
“We tried not to eat out much because that can get expensive,” Josslyn said.
“It was a lot of lunch meat sandwiches.”
Penny pinching played into Robby and Sawyer’s education, too, as costs of laundry and groceries became part of math class.
Their on-the-road-home-school provided history and geography lessons as they visited landmarks including the Pony Express, Oregon Trail and Underground Railroad. Robby said his favorite part of the trip was visiting the different museums in each city.
“We were able to live the education,” Josslyn said.
“Robert and I learned a lot, too.”
The RV parenting life
Robert had never been a full-time father before he quit his sales job prior to leaving. When he proposed the trip, he thought there would be more time for his personal interests.
“I wanted to do art, so I brought my chalk, drawing paper, musical instruments and more,” Robert said.
“I didn’t break it out once ? I had no idea what it was like to parent 24/7.”
“Most full-time RV people are retired,” Josslyn said.
“With kids, there’s no rest on a trip like ours because there aren’t fences to keep them inside. We are always on the lookout.”
The couple said their boys were at the right age for the adventure because if they were older, the trip could have taken a different tone.
Robby and Sawyer occupied themselves on the road with Tinker Toys, Legos and reading.
“One of the best things we did was read out loud,” Josslyn said.
Both parents were grateful for the extended time together with their children.
“It gave me the insight into full-time parenting that I never would have had,” Robert said.
“I’m not necessarily a better parent, but I feel like I’ve learned a lot.”
One year later
Narrowing their choices among several cities, the Streets had a strong idea where they’d end up.
“By the time we were in Virginia, we knew we wanted to live in the Pacific Northwest,” Josslyn said.
Their expectations for a home city included a community that endorses organic products, had a holistic and “green” mind set, and “got away from the sanitized system of doing things,” Robert said.
When visiting, their favorite places were, and still are, Railroad Bridge Park, the organic farms, Dungeness Valley Creamery, the local festivals and lavender farms and Dungeness Spit.
Now, they rent a home on Eunice Street in Sequim.
Robert works for Home Depot selling at-home services and consulting on potential projects.
Josslyn remains a full-time
mother and volunteer and does Reiki, a hands-on healing therapy.
No more leaving friends behind
Both boys are active in Cub Scouts and school begins soon with Sawyer going into first grade and Robby into third.
“They are happy to have friends who they don’t leave behind every week,” Josslyn said.
The couple plans to raise their boys in Sequim and does not have another RV trip planned.
But, both parents seemed open to another venture with stipulations.
“If I were to do it again, I’d stay longer in places and go longer on the road,” Josslyn said.
Their trip inspired a family friend to take monthly adventures.
“She found something to break her mold,” Josslyn said.
“We encourage others to get outside their box.”
More on the Streetts’ trip can be found online at www.rvgypsies.us.
Reach Matthew Nash at mnash
@sequimgazette.com.

Posted by Cindi Epona'Bri at 11:40 PM 0 comments

Friday, August 21, 2009

Olympic Loop Highway

This file made possible by:
Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT)


Olympic Highway near Lake Quinault, 1940s
Postcard

Celebration marking the completion of the Olympic Loop Highway (U.S. 101) begins on August 26, 1931.

HistoryLink.org Essay 7213 : Printer-Friendly Format

On August 26 and 27, 1931, a public celebration marking the completion of the 330-mile-long Olympic Loop Highway (U.S. 101) is held in Kalaloch. The Olympic Loop Highway encircles the Olympic Peninsula, making this remote area of the state accessible to tourism for the first time.

Building the Olympic Loop Highway was a difficult undertaking. The soil of the Peninsula was unstable and covered with underbrush. The Loop started from the Pacific Highway at Olympia and passed through McCleary, Elma, Aberdeen, Port Angeles, Shelton, and many smaller towns, encircling the Olympic mountain range. The new road brought the Pacific coastline into ready accessibility for anyone with an automobile.

The final portion of the road to be completed was the area between the Hoh River and Kalaloch. Text printed on a map of the era explains, "Work is now underway to connect this route [the Olympic Highway] with the road to Lake Quinalt, making complete the loop around the Olympic Peninsula."

The Seattle Chamber of Commerce led a caravan of business people from Port Angeles to Kalaloch, “dedicating various bridges en route” (The Seattle Times). These bridges included the Bear Creek, Sol Duc, Ox Bow, and Nolan Creek.

Governor Roland Hartley, British Columbian Premier Simon F. Tolmie, lumber baron and former speaker of the State House of Representatives Mark Reed (1866-1933), Highway Department director Samuel Humes, and several thousand others attended the main dedication celebration. Members of five coastal tribes, the Quillayutes, Quinalts, Queets, Hoh, and Makah, held contests and performed traditional games and dances to mark the occasion.

Sources:
Paul Dorpat and Genevieve McCoy, Building Washington: A History of Washington State Public Works (Seattle: Tartu Publications, 1998), 84; The S. W. Parks Company, Seattle, “Auto Road Map of Washington,” ca. 1930, collection of Paula Becker; “Seattle Ready to Celebrate on Peninsula," The Seattle Times, August 23, 1931.

By Paula Becker, January 18, 2005


http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?displaypage=output.cfm&file_id=7213


Posted by Cindi Epona'Bri at 7:09 AM 1 comments

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Soothe your ears and stomach with symphony


Sequim Gazette staff

Members of the Port Angeles Symphony will bring their harmony to Sequim this weekend.
As a fundraiser for its upcoming concert season, a string quartet will play Sunday, Aug. 23, at Cedar Creek Restaurant, 665 Fifth Ave., Sequim.
"In our experiences, people really enjoy music with dinners," said Mark Wundebron, executive director for the symphony.
The quartet consists of the symphony's principal string sections leads, Fred Thompson on cello, Lili Greene on viola, and Mary Moon and Kate Southard-Dean on violin.
"It'll be a mix of popular and classic pieces throughout the event," Thompson said.
Roasted hog and wild salmon will be served with various salads, fresh bread from Bell Street Bakery, fresh local berry shortcake and wine tasting provided by Whidbey Island Winery.

Event organizer Barbara Hutter said ticket sales go straight to the symphony.
"Seventy people have signed up so far," she said.
"We would love to have more than 100."
This is the first year for the event, but the symphony has several fundraisers a year with its biggest being an auction in spring.
"We get a lot of support from Sequim," Wundebron said.
"A lot of members are from this area. It's really a peninsula orchestra."
For a concert schedule and/or current fundraising opportunities, call at 457-5579 or visit 216-C N.
Laurel St., Port Angeles.
Concert tickets for September and beyond will be on sale at The Buzz, 128 N. Sequim Ave., Sequim.
The Port Angeles Symphony was founded in 1932. It currently has
80 volunteer musicians.
Posted by Cindi Epona'Bri at 7:01 AM 0 comments

CHIC PREVIEW Early look inside new hotel reveals some opulent options


by Sandra Frykholm
Sequim Gazette

When the Holiday Inn Express opens at the eastern entrance to Sequim in mid-November, owner Bret Wirta plans to raise the bar for accommodations in the area.
“We will offer customers a little more value than the typical economy-priced hotel,” Wirta said.
Among the extras: a rooftop garden, access for disabled persons to the pool and Jacuzzi area, a 250-seat conference center and rooms larger than are typical for Holiday Inn Express.
Wirta hopes that extra soundproofing and a free “upscale” hot breakfast will add to the draw.
The rooftop garden required a height variance from the city of
Sequim.
“We had a good experience with the city,” Wirta said. “We appreciated their assistance.”
During a sneak preview tour of the 77-room facility on Thursday, Aug. 13, Wirta said, “We worked with the franchise for a waiver to add the conference center.”

Black Bear Diner nearby
Wirta plans to begin work on a Black Bear Diner adjacent to the hotel but the time frame for that is not yet clear.
“We’re confident that the bank we’re working with will move forward with it,” he said.
The conference center can be fully catered from the diner, which will have a good menu to accommodate the catering, Wirta said.
Adjacent to the conference room, a pre-function area provides space for catering support, a prep area or a quiet room where conference-goers or wedding guests can converse but still be near the main meeting hall.
Another feature Wirta has added is office space for rent to businesses that support the traveling public’s needs.
AAA will occupy one of the offices and the other still is available. The AAA office will support both AAA’s travel and insurance functions, Wirta said.
Damian Humphreys, sales and marketing manager for Wirta Hospitality Worldwide, said, “Boomers and older people tend to be AAA members. We’re listening to the needs of the community.”
AAA has been making monthly visits to Sequim offering its services at Quality Inn and Suites, which Wirta owns.
Humphreys and Wirta oversee a sales force in Seattle that is working to bring new convention business to Sequim with a pitch that offers about 85 percent of the big city hotels’ amenities at about one-third to one-half the price.
The rural surroundings also may provide more of a retreat atmosphere than a city conference offers, Wirta said.
“We couldn’t survive on what’s already coming to
Sequim,” Humphreys said.
“I want to make Sequim a destination.”
The sales force is generating interest in future conferences in Sequim, but with the opening still about three months away, Humphreys is not ready to announce details.
Beyond the conference business from outside the local area, Humphreys and Wirta are working with local businesses and organizations. They hope to attract weddings and are exploring ideas such as dinner theater.
With two hotels in Sequim, Wirta said he’s returning to his roots. He grew up in a mountain resort area in New England, where his grandparents managed a hotel.
After a 25-year career in sales, Wirta sees his future in the hospitality business.
“The days of just building a hotel and saying, ‘Here I am,’ are over,” he said.
“You’ve got to have a plan.”
Reach Sandra Frykholm at sfrykholm@sequimgazette.com.

Posted by Cindi Epona'Bri at 6:55 AM 0 comments

Police department remodeling approved


by BRIAN GAWLEY
Sequim Gazette

The former Danny’s Restaurant will be remodeled to provide more space for the Sequim Police Department.
The council unanimously agreed Monday, Aug. 10, to spend up to $300,000 from the city’s capital projects fund for the project.
“Thank you. I know it’s been a long process, but the police department staff will really appreciate this,” said Police Chief Robert Spinks.
Capital Projects Manager Frank Needham said since the project was delayed, suppliers and contractors have dropped their prices because of the economy. So the project now could cost $225,000 instead of the originally estimated $274,000, he said.
The remodel will include a more secure front lobby area, two secure interview rooms, a larger secure prisoner handling area, active records storage and volunteer office space.
Last November, the council unanimously approved a five-year extension of the police department’s lease in the Sequim Village Center shopping center, 609 W. Washington St., that includes the former Danny’s Restaurant.
The new lease includes the existing 1,000-square-foot detectives’ annex for $11,885 annually, the existing 5,280-square-foot police station plus the 5,280-square-foot former Danny’s Restaurant and Village Event Center for $81,156 annually.
The total rent for police department space in 2009 will be $93,041.
The city expects to receive $12,000 annually in sublease payments from the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office for using Sequim Police Department space.
Reach Brian Gawley at bgawley@sequimgazette.com.

Posted by Cindi Epona'Bri at 6:38 AM 0 comments

Friday, August 7, 2009

New Spruce Street Park greeted warmly


by BRIAN GAWLEY
Sequim Gazette

To a jubilant round of applause, completion of Spruce Street Park was approved unanimously by the city council at its July 27 meeting.
“Thank you all very much. This is a great improvement to that corner and the neighborhood,” said Mayor Laura Dubois.
The unused city-owned park is slated for a second community organic garden in response to positive feedback from the city-sponsored plot at St. Luke’s Community Organic Garden of Sequim.
The quarter-acre park will be on the south side of East Spruce Street between Sequim and Sunnyside avenues.
The design includes 4-foot-wide gravel walking paths surrounding 16 10- by 10-foot garden plots and eight 10- by 5-foot handicapped accessible, raised bed plots in the park’s western third.

Picnics and parking
The middle third will have 2,800 square feet of grass with picnic tables, pooper scooper stations and trash cans.
The eastern third will be 2,040 square feet of permeable surface with four parking spaces, including two for disabled persons.
The improvements are estimated to cost $19,000, including donated materials.
Parks coordinator Jeff Edwards said the gardens will be covered and the gates locked during the winter but the rest of the park will remain open.
The new park received numerous enthusiastic comments.
“I’m president of the organizing group for Community Organic Gardens, and we are delighted,” said Liz Beth Harper.

Building free beds
Sam Schwab is donating materials, building and installing the eight raised garden beds to achieve his Eagle Scout rank.
“This is an amazing idea. I’d prefer more gardens than big stores,” he said.
Sequim Sunrise Rotary member John D’Urso said the club is enthusiastic about donating the shed, fence and picnic tables for the new park.
Lisa Hobbs, owner of two properties on Sunnyside Avenue, also described the planned gardens as “fantastic.”
“This is going to be a wonderful project,” she said.
Councilor Ken Hays said when he was growing up in Seattle 40 years ago, these “community organic gardens” were called “pea patches.”
He recently visited the neighborhood of one of those pea patches and it is flourishing, he said.
Reach Brian Gawley at bgawley@sequimgazette.com.
Posted by Cindi Epona'Bri at 3:27 AM 0 comments

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Enjoy a Twilight Mom vacation with your family in the Olympic Peninsula: There's fun for everyone


August 4, 2:27 PM
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Welcome to Forks, Washington!

With summer beginning to wind down, now is the perfect opportunity to indulge in a last-minute family road trip. My family recently got back from a three day tour of the Olympic Peninsula and had a surprisingly good time, considering that my two children are 2 1/2-year-old and 4-years-old. My husband proposed the trip several weeks ago and while I was initially hesitant, he unwittingly won me over while listing the cities and sites he wanted to see: The Olympic National Park, Sol Duc hot springs, Port Angeles, and Forks. As a self-professed Twilight Mom, my ears perked up instantly and before my husband could realize the error of his ways, I was saying yes and mentally planning our vacation while primarily focusing on Twilight-centric stops. Here's a quick recap of what our family did and how to make your 'Twilight Mom vacation' kid-friendly, too!

Day 1
Olympic Game Farm in Sequim: The OGF lets you drive through a huge reserve where various types of wildlife roam freely (for the most part) and allows you to get up close and personal with animals like llamas, elk, deer, and buffalo. The OGF used to house many entertainment animals that were used in films and you can still see 'performing bears,' which will sit up and wave as you drive by. The best part is that you can buy a loaf of bread and feed the animals, nearly all of which will eat straight out of your hand. My kids loved being so close to the animals. It's worth a visit! Just follow the directions on the signs - they say "Don't stop" around certain animals for a reason; after all, you don't want your car damaged by a nosy buffalo, do you?

Hurricane Ridge: Located in the Olympic National Park, it was a little over an hour away from the Olympic Game Farm and a beautiful drive up into the mountains. The ridge offers amazing views of Vancouver Island and Mount Olympus. There are short hikes you can take on relatively flat terrain that is easy for small feet to navigate. Hurrican Ridge also has places to sit, restrooms, a gift shop, and a small snack bar for those important pick-me-ups (or bribes).

Port Angeles: We took a short walk through the waterfront areas. There is a Marine Life Center that we didn't get to but it looks very fun. I morphed into goofy Twilight Mom at the sight of Bella Italia, an Italian restaurant that boasts the site of Edward and Bella's first date in the book. I also stepped intoDazzled by Twilight, a souvenir shop that is a must for any fan traveling through. If you're looking for Twilight products at a good price you will find them in this store. We stayed at the Olympic Lodge, which is
a great hotel located on the outskirts of Port Angeles.

Day 2
Hoh Rainforest: About two hours away from Port Angeles sits the Hoh Rainforest. Once there, we parked by the visitor's center and decided to take the shortest hike to the Hall of Moss to accommodate our little ones. The terrain was smooth for the most part with only a few rocky patches. The Hall of Moss was a spectacular sight, as was the entire trail that leads you to it, which was just under one mile. The area is filled with lush ferns, fauna, and huge trees that leave you in awe. When we left, we drove by a herd of elk relaxing near the Hoh River.

Ruby Beach: Just off Highway 101 and about twenty minutes past the Hoh Rainforest is Ruby Beach. The path to the beach was easy but once you're at the bottom you're left to navigate your way over large pieces of driftwood. The beach is beautiful, a mix of sand and pebbles. The ocean comes roaring in and there are rocks and peaks jutting out of the water. My kids loved playing here and we stayed for quite awhile collecting shells, rocks, and seaweed. One thing: the bathroom in the parking lot of the beach is not clean so stop ahead of time at a gas station!

Forks: The moment I had been waiting for! I'll say this for Forks: They have really embraced the Twilight phenomenom! The Dew Drop Inn's sign welcomes visitors to "The Twilight Zone" as you enter town and the Pacific Inn Motel (where we stayed) offers Twilight-themed rooms (my husband refused to stay in one). Storefront signs boast things like "Bella shops here!" or "Bella's first aid station" to entice tourists inside. The first stop was at the Forks Chamber of Commerce Visitor Information Center, where in the parking lot a replica of Bella's red truck sits and is the perfect photo op. At the visitor's information center, you can buy maps detailing the Twilight sites, find out about Twilight Tours, and discover other areas of interest that have nothing to do with Twilight.

When it comes to shopping for Twilight souvenirs, Forks has you covered. Nearly every store, from the pharmacy to gift shops to the hardware store offers a variety of Twilight trinkets. The best place to go, in my opinion, is the Forks location of Dazzled by Twilight. Much like its Port Angeles counterpart, it has a great selection, is personalized to Forks, and has decent prices. This store is also where the Twilight Tours depart from several times a day.

Restaurants also are in on the action and many serve items like a Bella Berry Smoothie at A Work in Progress, a Twilight Sandwich at Subway, a Bella Burger at Sully's Drive-in, and Bellasagne at Pacific Pizza. We ate at Sully's Drive-in, which had great burgers, good service, and kid's meals. For dessert, we went to JT's Sweet Stuffs for ice cream. You can also buy novelty candy items, as well as homemade chocolates and other sweets.

Of course any twilight Fan wants to see where the action goes down! A quick visit to the Forks website will give you the locations of Bella's house, the Cullen's house, Forks High School, the police station, and the Forks Community Hospital. Each place is friendly to visitors although at 'Bella's house' you are asked not to bother the owners by any means (taking pictures is fine, but don't go knocking on the door). The 'Cullen's house' is actually a very nice bed and breakfast, and fans can expect a note from Esme on the porch and are welcome onto the property for photos.

La Push: Twilight fans know La Push is home to Jacob Black and his friends/wolf pack. On the way there, we passed the Treaty Line that was agreed to in the Twilight series by the Quileute Nation and the Cullens (and is apparently sponsored by Pepsi). La Push is small, but has the most beautiful beach. We were there at sunset and spent some time running on the sand and taking in the views of the rock formation and ocean. If you're in the area, you should definitely stop there (whether you're a Twilight fan or not!).

Day 3
Clallam Bay: Not far from Forks is Clallam Bay, which has a lovely beach and great tide pools. We stopped here for a short bit to let the kids burn off some steam and collected quite a few seashells.

Sol Duc Hot Springs: Our final destination was the Sol Duc Hot Springs Resort, which was great. The resort offers cabins with or without kitchenettes and are very comfortable. There are no tv, phones, or internet access so be prepared to have withdrawal! Guests receive all day passes to the pools with their cabins and visitors traveling through can stop and buy a pass. There are three mineral spring pools and one freshwater pool. For food, there is the Poolside Deli, which has delicious items like wraps, sandwiches, and more. The resort also has The Springs Restaurant that offers very good food but is a bit pricey.

Close by are the hiking trails that lead you to the Sol Duc Waterfall. The trail is very popular and the hike is easy for families. The terrain is smooth for the most part and there are plenty of trees to look at, whether they're laying haphazardly on the ground or standing tall.

There you have it! It was a quick trip, but we saw a lot of beautiful sights and had a terrific time!

http://www.examiner.com/x-1146-Seattle-Eastside-Family-Examiners~y2009m8d4-Enjoy-a-Twilight-Mom-Vacation-with-your-family-to-the-Olympic-Peninsula-Theres-fun-for-everyone
Posted by Cindi Epona'Bri at 2:59 AM 0 comments

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

North Peninsula sizzles -- get ready for more!



Click here to zoom...
Chelsea Hallinan, 4, and Skyler Hallinan, 9, use buckets to collect jellyfish in the waters of the Admiralty Inlet. Hundreds flocked to the beaches at Fort Worden State Park on Tuesday as temperatures soared. -- Photo by Erik Hidle/Peninsula Daily News


By Rob Ollikainen
and Paige Dickerson

PORT ANGELES -- A midsummer scorcher on the North Olympic Peninsula sent temperatures climbing into the mid-90s in Port Angeles and Sequim, with a near-record 87 degrees reported in Forks and an unofficial Peninsula-wide high of 103 recorded in Quilcene on Tuesday.

The highest temperature on the Peninsula was in Quilcene. If the temperature reported by a weather watcher becomes official, it will break Quilcene's record of 100 set July 16, 1941, the National Weather Service said.

Expect more of the same today, forecasters say.

"It's kind of an oppressive heat," said Dennis D'Amico, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Seattle.

"It has been muggy. Dew points have been running in the 60s. Generally when we get hot, usually we're a little drier. It makes it a little more uncomfortable."

Port Angeles reached 94 degrees at William R. Fairchild International Airport, where records have been kept since 2000.

"There's not enough of a database to say if it's a record or not," D'Amico said.

Sequim recorded a high of 93.

Forks came within one notch of the 88-degree record set in 1974 at the Quillayute Airport just outside city limits.

Port Townsend had a high of 88 on Tuesday.

A high of 87 degrees in Port Hadlock and 89 in Port Ludlow were reported on the Weather Channel's Web site, www.weather.com.

Weather watchers reported highs of 97 degrees near Mount Walker and 94 degrees in Brinnon.

Peninsula residents can expect to "add a degree or three" to Tuesday's highs today, D'Amico said.

"We're going to be warm right through Friday," he said.

Clallam County Fire District No. 2 Chief Jon Bugher said the hot weather concerns him because of the fire potential as well as the health hazards.

"People need to be extremely careful in this kind of time," Bugher said. "Stay hydrated and make sure that every bit of the coals are cold to the touch when cooking outside."

Fires

A small brush fire prompted the brief closure of one lane of East Beach Road east of Lake Crescent after it was reported at 6:28 p.m. Tuesday, said Bugher in a prepared statement.

The fire burned salal, grass and trees in an area of about 45-feet by 100-feet before it was extinguised, preventing the spread to adjacent property, Bugher said.

The Department of Natural Resources saw two 1-acre fires on the east end of Jefferson County, said Travis Peek, fire operations forester.

One fire on a small spit of land near Port Ludlow burned about an acre while firefighters waited for access, which was cut off by the tides. A second fire was started by some garbage thrown out near the Hood Canal Bridge area, he said.

A structure fire near Sandy Shores Lake broke out Tuesday morning just after 10 a.m. Port Ludlow Fire and Rescue, East Jefferson Fire-Rescue and crews from the Department of Natural Resources battled the blaze for more than five hours, said Keppie Keplinger, spokeswoman.

She didn't know Tuesday what kind of structure burned in the blaze that also charred 2 acres of brush and trees. No one was hurt. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Park fires

Two fires in Olympic National Park, which were ignited by lightning strikes, continued to smolder, park spokeswoman Barb Maynes said.

The trail to Lake Constance, about 2 miles northeast of the end of the Dosewallips Road, continues to be closed because of the fires, she said.

A fire that began July 11 near Lake Constance in the upper Dosewallips River drainage has grown from 10 acres reported Thursday to about 38 acres.

A 10-person crew attempted to set up a sprinkler system along Constance Creek but couldn't finish the job.

"There were boulders about half the size of a Volkswagen bug falling toward them," Maynes said. "It was simply too dangerous to stay."

A fire that began June 13 in the upper Duckabush Valley has spread slowly; it now covers about 1.5 acres.

"Despite the hot weather and the vegetation within the wilderness, that fuel for the fire is still rather moist, so the fires are not spreading quickly," Maynes said.

The fires are not put out as per park policy but are being closely monitored, Maynes said.

Although none of the fire districts received many calls for heat-related emergencies -- only one or two possible cases in the past couple days were called in -- all fire personnel caution residents about the dangers of the dry conditions.

Bugher said that the station has been called out to several lawn mower fires.

"The blades hit a rock and it creates a spark and that's it," he said. "It is very dry out there."

Port Angeles Fire Marshal Ken Dubuc agreed.

"People need to pay a lot of attention, even to where they park their cars," he said.

"I've seen cases of even a hot exhaust pipe on a car parked in the wrong place igniting a fire."

Burn bans are in place in Clallam and Jefferson counties until further notice.

________

Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.

Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.

Reporter Erik Hidle contributed to this story.

Last modified: July 28. 2009 11:11PM
Posted by Cindi Epona'Bri at 3:10 AM 0 comments

Big Sequim housing subdivision granted extension


Click here to zoom...
Grazing cattle, like these along Port Williams Road on the former Booth family farm, are part of the rural environment that attracts people to Sequim. But with demand for housing, such pastures have been rezoned to accommodate high-density developments such as Sorrento, the 229-unit project planned for the Booth land. -- Photo by Diane Urbani de la Paz/peninsula Daily News


By Diane Urbani de la Paz
Peninsula Daily News

SEQUIM -- This pasture, parched by Sequim sunshine, tells the town's tale in its 38 acres.

The land is the Booth family's farm along North Sequim Avenue, just inside the city limit and approved by the Sequim City Council back in 2006 as the next swath to be turned into a major subdivision: Sorrento, a 229-unit tract of single-family homes, duplexes and four-plexes.

Three years later, though, there is no subdivision east of the Sequim Avenue roundabout. The developer, Origen Corp. of Des Moines, Wash., decided not to pursue the project, leaving Realtor Ron Gilles to ask the City Council for a one-year extension of the three-year time frame to start construction.

After a long discussion and plentiful protest from neighbors, the council voted unanimously Monday night to grant the extension.

It came with new requirements that the developer -- whoever that turns out to be -- connect subdivision streets to existing city streets, but didn't reduce Sorrento's density of six units per acre.

'Un-Sequimlike'

As in 2006, many surrounding residents were furious. They sent letters to the council, calling the subdivision an eyesore and "un-Sequimlike," and predicting an influx of urban traffic into their peaceful part of the world.

Richard and Dixie Hoffart, for example, wrote to the council that they came to Sequim to enjoy a slower pace; they savor the sight of cattle grazing as they drive past the Booth property.

A series of protesters made appearances at Monday's council meeting, too, to decry Sorrento's density. Preserve the open space and protect the creek that runs through it, they urged.

The council was quiet as the public hearing ended, but then member Walt Schubert spoke up.

"I like the cows on that property too," he said. "I'd love for that to stay that way forever. But it's not going to. People have property rights."

When people can't make ends meet farming and when they want to retire, Schubert added, they should be able to sell their land to a buyer who'll provide housing for people who -- like other Sequim residents -- want to live in a rural area.

Clallam County can stay rural, Schubert believes, if the development is limited to the incorporated cities.

That's where high-density housing belongs, he said, and if the council were to deny projects such as Sorrento, it will "force development out into the county [where it] eats up farmland."

Gilles, noting that he's lived in Sequim for more than 40 years, added that his town is bound to get bigger, and residents should accept that.

'Can't stop growth'

"You can't stop growth. People are moving here because it is desirable, and it will continue to be desirable," he told the council.

Council member Ken Hays was adamant about adding the street-connection requirements to the Sorrento plan, but stressed that he wasn't trying to trip up the project, and contrary to the perceptions of some, he is not anti-growth.

"Sure, it's nice to look at cows, but I see development there myself," he said.

The Booths' pasture, then, is full of paradoxes. It's farmland inside the city's boundaries. It's also surrounded by residents who don't want more development to spoil what they love about Sequim.

The City Council has approved a large subdivision, but amid the recession that followed the city's housing boom, there's no developer to build the planned hundreds of homes.

Gilles, who will continue to seek a developer to put the project back on track, expressed gratitude to the council for approving the one-year extension -- and emphasized that had the members denied it, another builder might come in with an even higher-density project.

With six homes per acre, Sorrento is "at the bottom end" of the permitted density in this zone, Gilles added. The former farmland is zoned R-III, which means six to 14 dwelling units are allowed on it.

________

Sequim-Dungeness Valley reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.

Last modified: July 28. 2009 11:12PM
Posted by Cindi Epona'Bri at 2:45 AM 4 comments
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