By Philip L. Watness For Peninsula Daily News
BRINNON — Marks painted Wednesday to show where booths were to be set up for the annual Brinnon ShrimpFest had been washed away by the next day, adding more worry for booth coordinator Debbie Williams.
But Williams repainted the marks Thursday and hoped for better weather for the community festival, which continues from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today on the grassy part of Dosewallips State Park, east of U.S. Highway 101 and north of the Dosewallips River.
As the sun pushed away clouds Saturday, Williams and other volunteers breathed a sigh of relief.
By noon, visitors to the 17th edition of the annual festival were lined 20-deep in front of the dozen food booths, children were getting their faces painted or sliding down a giant slide, competitors were racing their modified belt-sanders down a custom track, and shrimp were flying out of the freezer at the Emerald Towns Alliance festival booth.
“We were all going, ‘Oh, no,’ but when I saw the sun come out, you betcha I felt good,” Williams said Saturday.
“We’re going to have a good day.”
Thousands attending
Crowd estimates won’t be tallied for a few weeks, but organizers said they were confident the festival was on track to attract an estimated 12,000 to 15,000 people for the two-day event.
Kay Peterson, who was overseeing the sale of 1,130 containers of frozen shrimp out of the sponsor’s booth, said she believed all of the shrimp would be sold quickly.
“Our shrimp are going fast,” Peterson said midday Saturday.
“We have probably sold over half as of today.”
The Emerald Towns Alliance booth was the first stop for many festival-goers who were anxious to purchase the Hood Canal shrimp before they were all gone.
“We gotta get our shrimp,” said Jefferson County Auditor Donna Eldridge of Port Townsend as she plunked down $12 for a box of shrimp purchased fresh from the Skokomish tribe.
Peterson said dozens of volunteers prepared the shrimp for sale this past week and froze them before the festival.
Proceeds from the sale of the tubs of shrimp go to benefit local nonprofit and public-service organizations, Peterson said.
Over the years, the event has raised funds to support Brinnon School, the Brinnon Food Bank, the Brinnon and Quilcene community centers, Dollars for Scholars and Senior Nutrition.
The Emerald Towns Alliance also was selling necklaces of pearls and plastic shrimp, with proceeds benefiting funds at St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital of Seattle set up in the name of the late Bosco Reopelle of Brinnon, who had coordinated the music for the ShrimpFest.
But it wasn’t all just seafood for many people who were attending.
Children clambered into the Coast Guard’s 25-foot RBS — response boat small — or took a run down the giant slide.
Others sat patiently to have their faces painted or henna tattoos applied.
Belt-sander races
A half-dozen children participated in the belt-sander races, winning cash prizes for the top two finishes.
Keven Ronshaugen, 8, of Bremerton placed second in the heats.
A veteran of the festival, he hadn’t previously competed, but he liked the experience.
“It’s pretty fun, and you can win money,” he said.
Some attending the festival plan their vacations around the ShrimpFest, like Christy George of Snohomish and Mary Smith of Vancouver, Wash., whose daughters, Maddie, 5, Alexis George, 7, and Vivian Smith, 6, clambered onto the Coast Guard vessel for a closer look.
“I love they have this,” Mary Smith said.
“We totally look forward to this. It’s an annual tradition.”
Smith and George said they have been coming to the festival for the past 10 years.
Booth coordinator Williams said 92 vendors were on-site Saturday.
About half of them were repeat participants.
She said the booth spaces are usually all taken by April, though occasionally a vendor or two may cancel.
“It takes the whole community,” said shrimp sale booth volunteer Evelyn Cemper of Brinnon.
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Philip L. Watness is a freelance writer and photographer living in Port Townsend. He can be reached at whatnews@olypen.com.