Volunteer work parties slated while parks waive entrance fees for Martin Luther King Jr. Day today

Published 12:01 am Monday, January 19, 2015

Several North Olympic Peninsula groups plan Day of Service volunteer work in honor of the memory of Martin Luther King Jr. today.

Olympic National Park and state parks will waive entrance fees in honor of the day, as well.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is celebrated today to mark King’s birthday Jan. 15, 1929. The civil rights leader was assassinated April 4, 1968.

Here is a list of activities scheduled:

STATE, NATIONAL PARKS

Free entry

Entrance fees for state parks and Olympic National Park will be waived today.

State park visitors will not be required to display a Discover Pass, a $30 annual permit, or to pay a one-day fee of $10.

A Discover Pass will be required to access state Department of Fish and Wildlife and state Department of Natural Resources lands.

State parks on the North Olympic Peninsula are Bogachiel near Forks, Dosewallips near Brinnon, Fort Flagler on Marrowstone Island, Fort Townsend and Fort Worden in Port Townsend, Anderson Lake State Park near Chimacum and Sequim Bay near Sequim.

Free days apply only to day use, not to overnight stays or rented facilities.

For more information, visit www.parks.wa.gov.

Olympic National Park will waive its entrance fee of $15 per car.

Other park fees, including wilderness camping and campground fees, will remain in effect.

For more information, visit www.tinyurl.com/PDN-nationalparkfreedays.

PORT ANGELES

Marine debris pickup

PORT ANGELES — All ages are invited to a marine debris pickup at the Place Road Elwha River beach at 10 a.m. today.

The cleanup will begin at the west Elwha River mouth beach. Public access is from the end of Place Road.

The “march on West Elwha Beach” will include a motivational speech by North Olympic Peninsula Skills Center natural resources student Michael Miles.

Marine debris data from the survey will be submitted to local and national natural resource managers.

Volunteers are asked to bring food and water, and wear clothing appropriate for the weather.

Trash pickup supplies will be provided.

For more information, contact Dan Lieberman at 360-565-1892 or dlieberman@portangelesschools.org.

Bullying talk slated

PORT ANGELES — Bullying will be the topic of a discussion in the Raymond Carver Room at the Port Angeles Library, 2210 S. Peabody St., from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. today.

Participants will discuss four specific factors that make up bullying.

This community conversation will use a facilitated and structured discussion model called “Community Cafe,” according to Mary Doherty, coordinator of Prevention Works!, which is sponsoring the discussion.

For more information, phone Doherty at 610-952-6026 or email preventionmmd@gmail.com.

Trails work party

PORT ANGELES — The Peninsula Trails Coalition will host bulb planting at the Deer Park overlook off U.S. Highway 101 from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. today.

The group will plant some 150,000 daffodil and tulip bulbs donated by Home Depot, according to Rick Cooper, a Peninsula Trails Coalition member and Home Depot employee.

Participants are welcome for the whole period or to stop in for an hour or two.

Volunteers are asked to bring shovels, gloves and boots.

The planting site is just west of Deer Park Cinema at the top of the hill east of Morse Creek.

For more information, contact Gordon Taylor at gptaylor98363@gmail.com or 360-452-2925.

PORT TOWNSEND

‘Fundi’ at Rose

PORT TOWNSEND — “Fundi: The Story of Ella Baker,” a 1981 documentary, will screen at the Rose Theatre, 235 Taylor St., at 1 p.m. today.

Tickets are free and can be picked up in advance at the Rose. Remaining tickets will be available at the door before the screening.

The 48-minute film directed by Joanne Grant follows Baker, a civil rights activist in the 1960s.

She was nicknamed Fundi, a Swahili word for one who passes skills from one generation to another.

For more information, phone 360-385-1089 or visit www.RoseTheatre.com.

Church service

PORT TOWNSEND — A Martin Luther King Jr. Day service will be held at Quimper Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 2333 San Juan Ave., at 11 a.m. today.

The service includes readings, music from the Port Townsend Youth Chorus and participatory reflection on the theme “Where do we go from here?”

All are welcome.

For more information, contact Viki Sonntag at 425-482-3026 or vikis@ecopraxis.org.