Nature Mart raises record amount for Dungeness River Audubon Center programs

Published 12:01 am Monday, December 1, 2014

SEQUIM — The eighth annual Nature Mart raised more than $7,500 for Dungeness River Audubon Center educational programs.

And since the three-day festival Nov. 14-15, sales of additional Nature Mart items have raised the gross receipts to nearly $8,300, said Julie Jackson, chairwoman of the annual holiday event at the center at 2151 W. Hendrickson Road.

“Since our expenses are under $250, our net total is already over $8,000, and shoppers may purchase remaining Nature Mart items at the River Center through Dec. 13,” she said.

The amount realized through this year’s sale is a record, Jackson said.

Last year, Nature Mart raised just over $7,400 in net proceeds for River Center programs.

The winner of the Nature Mart raffle prize, a Cowichan wool sweater valued at more than $300, was Linda Ogden of Sequim.

She and her husband, Joel, moved to Sequim two years, and after seeing photos of the sweater in the newspapers, they came to Nature Mart specifically to buy raffle tickets, Jackson said.

Marion Rutledge, a member of both the River Center and Olympic Peninsula Audubon Society, knit and donated the sweater.

Rutledge is an active member of the River Center Crafters, the group that produces many of the one-of-a-kind hand-crafted items for Nature Mart.

Remaining Nature Mart items, including assorted gifts for people, pets and birds, can be purchased at the center.

Winter hours at the center are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and from noon to 4 p.m. Saturdays.

The center is closed Sundays and Mondays.

For more information, phone 360-681-4076 or visit www.DungenessRiverCenter.org.