This weekend will be crammed full of events across Jefferson and Clallam counties.
Here are rundowns on four of the activities coming up:
Joyce Daze Wild BlackBerry Festival.
Forks Relay for Life cancer walk.
Olympic Road Rally.
Peninsula College Foundation East-West Dinner.
A full rundown of entertainment and arts activities will be in this week’s Peninsula Spotlight, the PDN’s weekly entertainment guide published every Friday.
Events will also be listed in “Things to Do This Weekend,” appearing in Friday’s C-section.
“Things to Do” is a daily feature in the PDN.
Joyce Daze
Saturday’s 24th annual Joyce Daze Wild Blackberry Festival in Joyce, 15 miles west of Port Angeles on state Highway 112, kicks off with a pancake breakfast at the Crescent Grange Hall (7 a.m -11 a.m.; $4 for adults, $1.50 for children) and lasts until 4 p.m.
Highlights of the festival:
* Homemade pies made with the much-heralded local blackberries topped with ice cream on sale all day, plus a salmon bake.
* The Homemade Blackberry Pie Contest.
To enter, drop off pies at the Joyce Museum between 9 a.m. and 10:45 a.m.
* Sponsored by Peninsula Daily News, the first-place winner get $100 in Port Angeles Downtown Dollars (works like cash at 80 downtown merchants and restaurants).
Second and third place will be awarded $50 and $25 in Downtown Dollars respectively.
* Joyce Daze three-mile Adventure Route Hike on Olympic Discovery Trail. Meet at 9:30 a.m. in the parking lot of the Joyce Bible Church, just east of Crescent School, 50350 Highway 112.
* Joyce Daze Adventure Route Mountain Bike Event, six-mile bike ride through the hills above Joyce. Meet at 9 a.m. in the parking lot of Joyce Bible Church.
* Beard, goatee and mustache contest. Contestants can fill out entry forms beginning 10 a.m. on Saturday on the west side of Family Kitchen restaurant.
Entry fee is $5. Judging begins at noon
* A parade with more than 85 entries beginning at 1 p.m. Still time to enter — there’s no charge. Sign-in begins at 9:30 a.m. in the Crescent High School parking lot.
* Children’s activities, including a fish pond; antique trucks and cars; juried art show, demonstrations, music.
Vendor booths, 10 by 12 feet, are still available — cost is $10.
* The Joyce Daze Craft Show will accept entries Friday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Crescent Grange. Cash prize of $50 for People’s Choice will be awarded.
Grand marshals are Crescent High School Superintendent/Principal Doug Kubalek and his wife, Linda.
Grand pioneers are Milo Wetherald and his sister Joy Simmons. The family has homesteaded in Joyce since 1934.
For information, phone Ed McKay, 360-928-3331, or Gretchen Harnack, 360-928-0243 or 360-477-9821.
Forks Relay for Life
West End residents will participate in the Forks Relay for Life, a 24-hour fundraiser for the American Cancer Society.
The overnight event runs from 6 p. m. Friday to 6 p.m. Saturday on the track at Forks High School.
Cancer survivors will lead the first lap to begin the relay.
They are followed by teams whose members take one-, two- or three-hour shifts walking or running around the track during the 24 hours to symbolize the strength and determination it takes to battle cancer.
Teams raise money through individual pledges, fundraising and contributions
Most have sponsors who give money based on the number of laps or miles team members travel around the track.
Individuals who want to do solo walks or runs are also welcome.
The relay’s participants and their supporters will surround the high school track with tents, lounge chairs, ice chests and other comforts.
There will be live music, kids’ activities, food and entertainment.
For a minimum donation of $5, participants and spectators can purchase a luminary — a lighted candle in a paper bag — that can be decorated to commemorate or honor someone who has been afflicted with cancer.
At 10 p.m. Friday, hundreds of luminaries will line the darkened track, and a moment of silence will be observed, dedicated to survivors and in memory of friends and loved ones who lost the fight.
Relay for Life, the American Cancer Society’s national signature activity, is held in more than 4,300 cities.
Port Angeles and Port Townsend hosted relays earlier this summer.
Relay for Life of Sequim — new for 2006 — will be held at Sequim High School on Aug. 12-13, noon to noon.
Team recruitment chair is Peg Buell, 360-808-8026. Survivor chairs are Ted Keehn, 360-417-9828, and Cheri Barnett, 360-582-3880.
Luminaria chair is Vicki McKinney, 253-661-9477.
Olympic Road Rally
Classic car clubs, car enthusiasts and members of the North Olympic Peninsula’s food industry will converge upon Sequim for the first Olympic Road Rally.
With its theme of “Lavender, Learning and Local Cuisine,” the event is designed to raise both awareness of the Peninsula’s local food fare and funds for the Helen Haller Elementary School Garden Project, a hands-on enrichment program that teaches children about organic gardening.
Hosted by the European Car Club of Sequim and sponsored by 7 Cedars Casino and other local businesses, the three-day road rally will feature a Lavender Loop Poker Run in conjunction with nine participating lavender farms; a Lake Crescent Rally (time/distance competition); a classic car show; a vendor show and lots of fresh, local cuisine.
Two-person scrambles at Sequim’s SkyRidge Golf Course and a defensive driving class and practice course (for drivers age 15 and older) will add to the fun.
7 Cedars will serve meals all weekend featuring local seafood, locally grown fruit and produce and locally made breads and desserts.
It all begins with pre-registration at 7 Cedars in Blyn on Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The auto and vendor shows open Friday at noon in the Helen Haller Elementary School parking lot and soccer field, continuing through the weekend.
Lavender Loop Poker Run is Saturday, departing from both The Lavender Connection and Jardin du Soleil lavender farms at 1:30 p.m.
The event repeats on Sunday, departing from the same locations at 10:30 a.m.
Lake Crescent Rally is also Saturday, departing from First Federal Savings and Loan in Sequim Village Shopping Center.
For more information, phone John Junell at 360-477-5478.
East-West Dinner
International business news reporter Fred Katayama will speak at Peninsula College Foundation’s East-West Dinner on “China, Asian Americans and Money.”
The event, from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Friday, will be held at Fortune Star restaurant, 145 E. Washington St., Sequim,
Tickets for this foundation fundraiser are $65 per person and must be purchased in advance.
For tickets, or more information, contact the foundation at 360-417-6264 or 360-417-6535. Or e-mail the foundation’s executive director, Rhonda Curry, at Rhondac@pcadmin.ctc.edu.