Visit Olympic National Park for free, learn about orcas or climate change, take the kids to a fair just for them, applaud Clallam County Historical Society award winners or visit a gem show.
Those are just a few of the activities available on the North Olympic Peninsula this weekend.
Here’s a sample of events presented this weekend.
‘Fee-free’ in ONP
Olympic National Park will participate in the first of the summer’s two “fee free weekends” on Saturday and Sunday.
Saturday is also National Trails Day, a day intended to inspire both use and work on the trail system.
Designated days for free entrance to national parks began in 2009 to encourage Americans in a down economy to visit their local national parks.
In addition to this weekend, entrance fees will be waived on Aug. 14-15.
The waiver applies only to entrance fees and does not affect charges for camping, reservations, tours or concessions.
Many tour operators, hotels, restaurants, gift shops and other vendors near national parks will offer other discounts and special promotions on the free weekend dates.
Volunteers will clear downed trees and debris from a portion of the Little River Trail on National Trails Day on Saturday.
The work will be done between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. on the trail near Port Angeles.
Co-sponsors of the effort include the Olympic Chapter of the Back Country Horsemen of Washington, Grey Wolves Trail Crew and the Olympic National Park.
Volunteers will meet at the trail head off Little River Road west of Port Angeles. They are asked to bring gloves, drinking water, lunch and sturdy work boots.
To volunteer for Little River Trail work, contact Wayne Fitzwater at 360-374-2800 or wayne.fitzwater@dnr.wa.gov.
PORT ANGELES
Historical awards
PORT ANGELES — The Clallam County Historical Society will honor the winners of its Heritage and Historic Structure awards at the Port Angeles City Council chambers, 321 E. Fifth St., at 2 p.m. Sunday.
Sandra Louch will be awarded the Heritage Award for her 25 years of organizing, processing, storing and retrieving the 10,000-entry photographic collection of the historical society.
Louch also has donated her time over the years to work at the society’s annual garage sale.
Queen of Angels School will receive the Historic Structure Award for maintaining the original 1920s architectural style of the building and serving as a place of learning on the Olympic Peninsula since 1926.
The Clallam County Historical Society has presented the awards since 1984.
The event is free and open to the public.
For more information, phone 360-452-2662.
Paint your own art
PORT ANGELES — Waterfront Art Gallery, 120 W. First St., is inviting the public to help create a long mural celebrating the Olympic Discovery Marathon.
All passers-by will be invited to take a few minutes to help create a work of art from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.
Paint, brushes and paper will be supplied.
This event is titled “Art on the Run,” an art marathon.
For more information, phone 360-452-8165.
Learn to row day
PORT ANGELES — The Olympic Peninsula Rowing Association and the Clallam County Family YMCA will hold a “Learn to Row Day” at the Ediz Hook Boathouse between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. Saturday.
Attendees can learn more about rowing, tour the boathouse and try rowing, weather-permitting.
The event is free and open to those age 12 and over.
Participants should dress in layers and wear river sandals or old tennis shoes which can get wet.
For more information, phone YMCA sports director Tim Tucker at 360-452-9244 or e-mail tim@ccfymca.org.
Safety day slated
PORT ANGELES — The ninth Annual Clallam County Community Safety Day will be held on E. Fourth St between the Clallam County Courthouse and Vern Burton Community Center, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.
Emergency service vehicles will be on site and families can meet with first responders as well as see the vehicles up close.
Car seat technicians will check and fit car seats and free bike helmets will be given out while supplies last.
Children can practice fire safety in escaping from the fire district’s “Smoke House.”
Safety handouts and prizes will be given out.
The event is free and open to the public.
For more information, phone Clallam County Emergency Management at 360-417-2483.
Feiro lecture series
PORT ANGELES — Rich Osborne will present Orcas, Humans, and Salmon: Shared Ancestries and Shared Destinies at the Feiro Marine Life Center on the Port Angeles City Pier at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.
The lecture is part of the Feiro Marine Life Center’s Marine Science Series.
Osborne is a past research curator and director and ongoing Research Associate at The Whale Museum on San Juan Island.
He now works for Clallam County as a planner involved in water and marine resource management and salmon restoration efforts.
His presentation will illustrate the natural history of the three local orca populations, how scientists study orcas, and the common history of humans, salmon and orcas in the Eastern North Pacific since the last glaciation.
It will include recordings of whale vocalizations, boat and shipping noise and military sonar sounds.
A $5 donation is suggested.
For more information or to RSVP, phone 360-417-6254.
Peninsula concert
PORT ANGELES — The Peninsula College Music Department will present its annual free end-of-the-year concert in the Pirate Union Building, 1502 E. Lauridsen Blvd., at 2 p.m. Saturday.
The Peninsula College Chamber Choir, Early Music Ensemble, singers and Jazz Ensemble will perform styles ranging from classical to jazz.
A special feature will be an all-audience singalong of several toe-tapping tunes.
The concert is free and open to the public.
The concert is part of Peninsula College’s Spring Festival of Student Arts, which celebrates student achievement and accomplishment.
Roosevelt show
PORT ANGELES — Roosevelt Elementary School will present a dinner show and auction at the Port Angeles High School Auditorium, 304 E. Park Ave., today.
The auction and dinner will begin at 5:30 p.m. with the show slated for 7 p.m.
Students in kindergarten through sixth grade will provide the entertainment for the show.
For more information, phone Roosevelt Elementary at 360-565-1717.
Storytelling event
PORT ANGELES — A practicing and listening storytelling workshop will be held from 10:30 a.m. to noon Saturday.
The workshop will be at 550 Olympic Hot Springs Road, where participants can practice near water or on forest pathways.
Attendees can bring a story or pick one up at the event.
The workshop provides practice for events, gigs or for family stories.
Stories will be discussed but not critiqued.
For more information, phone 360-457-3169.
Nutrition program
PORT ANGELES — Clallam County Health and Human Services WIC Nutrition Program will start its Farmers Market Check Giveaway program at the Port Angeles Farmers Market on Saturday.
The Port Angeles Farmer’s Market is located at The Gateway transit center at the corner of Front and Lincoln streets, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
At the WIC Farmers’ Market booth, eligible WIC Clients will receive $20 Farmers Market checks to be used at the market.
Nutrition education, recipes and giveaway items will be available.
WIC is a federal, income-based, special supplemental food program for women, infants and children.
For more information, phone 360-417-2274.
Help out Colton
PORT ANGELES — “Colton’s Army,” friends and family of 9-year-old leukemia patient Colton Matter, will hold a garage sale from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.
The sale will be at the Four Season’s Ranch Clubhouse, 673 Strait View Drive.
Proceeds will benefit Matter’s fund for a bone marrow transplant and his hospital stay.
Hot dogs, pop and other refreshments will be available.
For more information, phone Sandy Schultz at 360-457-7483 or Joy Sheedy at 360-457-6549.
Wine author visits
PORT ANGELES — Steve Roberts, author of Wine Trails of Washington, a book on traveling Washington wine country will visit Camaraderie Cellars, 334 Benson Road on Saturday.
Roberts will be available to sell and sign copies of his book and talk with winery guests from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Roberts visited more than 200 wineries around the state while researching his book.
He includes tips on accommodations and restaurants to make sure visitors “get a true wine touring experience.”
Don Corson, winemaker at Camaraderie Cellars, first met Roberts when Roberts was researching the book.
For more information, phone 360-417-3564.
Staged reading
PORT ANGELES — “Love and Other Adventures,” Jim Guthrie’s staged reading of work by Raymond Carver and Tess Gallagher, is planned today.
The performance will be from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Little Theater, Peninsula College, 1502 E. Lauridsen Blvd., Port Angeles.
For information, see www.pencol.edu or 360-417-6238.
WAG garage sale
SEQUIM — Welfare for Animals Guild will host a garage sale from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.
The sale will be at 165 Howe Road, off North Barr Road in Agnew.
Receipts will be available for donated items.
For more information, phone 360-452-8192.
SEQUIM
Kids Fair
SEQUIM — A variety of businesses and agencies will showcase goods and services for children — and provide entertainment — at the Third Annual Dungeness Kids Fair on Saturday.
Some 28 vendors will be on hand for the fair, set from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Carrie Blake Park.
Laugh Pack clowns will make animal balloons. Children can see — and play with — toy trains. The Clallam County Literacy Council will give away free books and booths will offer face painting, free crafts projects and giveaways.
Kindermusik classe will be offered every half-hour starting at 10 a.m.
For more information, see www.dungenesskidsfair.com/.
Agility trials
SEQUIM — Hurricane Ridge Kennel Club agility trials are today through Sunday.
The trials will be neat to Carrie Blake Park on Blake Ave.
They will begin at 10 a.m. today, at 9 a.m. Saturday and at 8:30 a.m. Sunday.
For more information, see www.hrkc.org/index.htm.
Car show
SEQUIM — Hod rods, classic cars and antiques will be displayed during the Sequim High School Engineering Technology Club’s First Annual Car Show E-Tech Classic on Saturday.
The show will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Sequim High School, 601 N. Sequim Ave.
Live music by Chantilly Lace is planned, along with food, vendors and the awarding of prizes and trophies.
Climate talk set
SEQUIM — The Environmental Study and Action group at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church will host “Defrosting the Earth’s Freezer: Thawing Landscapes and Climate Change in the Arctic,” at the church, 525 N. Sequim Ave., at 9 a.m. Saturday.
The event is free and open to the public.
Scientist Sarah Godsey will discuss the premise that the Earth is warming and frozen soils in the Arctic are thawing.
Her emphasis is on the unexpected effects these changes might have worldwide.
Attendees can learn about new polar research through Godsey’s stories and photos of recent expeditions to northern Alaska.
Rummage sale set
SEQUIM — The annual Trinity rummage sale will be held at Trinity United Methodist Church, 100 S. Blake Ave., from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. today and from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday.
The sale will include jewelry, tools, plants, women’s boutique clothing, and general clothing.
There will also be small appliances, power tools including table saw, linens and furniture.
All sales are final and only cash is accepted.
For more information, phone 360-683-5367.
Relay For Life car wash
SEQUIM — Kaylee & Kim’s Crusaders, a Relay For Life team, will hold a car wash fundraiser from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.
The car wash will be at Rock Plaza, corner of Sequim Avenue and Old Olympic Highway.
Gem open house
SEQUIM — The Clallam County Gem & Mineral Society will hold an open house at their lapidary shop, 81 Hooker Road, Space 5, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.
The event will include demonstrations of wire wrapping, silver smithing and rock cutting.
Information about classes offered in bead making, casting, faceting, Ming tree making and rock painting will be available.
Classes are appropriate for all age levels.
Refreshments will be served.
For more information, phone 360-681-7981 or 360-681-6321.
Peace dance
SEQUIM — Beatriz Giraldo of Port Angeles will lead “Dances of Universal Peace” at 7 p.m. tonight at the Center of Infinite Reflections, 144 Tripp Road just southwest of Sequim.
Participation is free.
The simple dances require no previous experience, and are done in a circle in the spirit of peace and harmony with all beings.
Violinist Deborah Morgan and guest musicians will play for the dancers, who will be led by both Giraldo and Vakil Forest.
“The watcher is the prayerful devotee, but the dancer becomes divine,” according to Samuel Lewis, originator of the Dances of Universal Peace.
To find the center, take Kirk Road from U.S. Highway 101 west of Sequim, turn right on Parrish Road, and stay on Parrish as it turns into Tripp Road. The Center of Infinite Reflections is on the right.
For information, phone 360-461-5188 or e-mail nobleamiga@yahoo.com.
FORKS/WEST END
Home-baked goods
FORKS — The Forks Open Aire Market will offer home-baked goods as well as produce on Saturday.
The market is from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. each Saturday at 1411 S. Forks Ave.
On the first Saturday of the month, beginning this week, the organization plans a bake sale as a benefit for the market.
Goods are home-baked by members of the market.
Preschool graduation
The Quileute Head Start Seniors plan a preschool graduation tonight.
The ceremony will be at 6 p.m. at the A-Ka-Lat Center in LaPush.
A dinner will follow the graduation.
PORT TOWNSEND
Peninsula authors
PORT TOWNSEND — Two books — and their authors — about the Olympic Peninsula will be featured at the Jefferson County Historical Society First Friday Lecture tonight.
The lecture will begin at 7 p.m. in the historic city council chamber in Port Townsend City Hall, 540 Water Street.
Speaking will be Tim McNulty, who wrote Olympic National Park: A Natural History and who penned the essays in From the Air: Olympic Peninsula, and David Woodcock, whose aerial photographs are featured in From the Air.
Olympic National Park is a thoroughly revised edition of McNulty’s 1996 book.
In it, he examines the effects of global warming and its changes throughout the region alongside current archaeological discoveries.
McNulty is a poet and nature writer who lives on Lost Mountain. He has written nine books of poetry and eleven books of natural history.
Woodcock, a resident of Sequim, has more than 40 years of experience flying general aviation and experimental aircraft.
His award winning photography has taken him from the Arctic Circle to the canyon lands of the American southwest.
His first book was Totem Poles of the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe in 2008.
Admission is by donation, which supports programs of the Jefferson County Historical Society.
PT book sale set
PORT TOWNSEND — Friends of the Port Townsend Library will hold its semi-annual book sale at the Port Townsend Community Center, 620 Tyler St., from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.
Hundreds of books, CDs, and movie DVDs will be available.
Proceeds benefit Port Townsend Library programs.
Rock club gemboree
PORT TOWNSEND — The Port Townsend Rock Club will present a “Gemboree” at the Port Townsend Rock Club building at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds, 4907 Landes St., from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.
Demonstrations of lapidary, silver work and casting, glass fusing and faceting will be held.
A potluck will follow the event.
A casting prep workshop will be held at 3 p.m. today.
For more information, phone 360-385-1419.
Young Life auction
PORT TOWNSEND — Olympic Peninsula Young Life will host an auction at Studio 49, above the Silverwater Cafe at 237 Taylor St., on Saturday.
The auction fundraiser will benefit the nonprofit, Christian, nondenominational ministry once known as Jefferson County Young Life that provides services for youth.
The auction, which will be from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., includes two Seattle Sounders tickets and a week’s stay in Sunriver, Ore.
Brian Kienle, former area director of Jefferson County Young Life,will host the auction.
Items are listed http://auction.opyl.org.
For more information, e-mail shrinerp@gmail.com or phone 360-643-1403.
Story telling
PORT TOWNSEND — First Friday Storynight will feature storytellers Cherie Trebon and Brian Rohr from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Better Living Through Coffee, 100 Tyler St.
Admission is a suggested donation of $5 to $10.
In “Stories Learned At My Daddy’s Knees,” Trebon, the director of Story People of Clallam County, will tell — through stories, songs and poems — of her father, Bud Trebon.
Rohr is a poet, storyteller and healing arts practitioner living in Port Townsend.
During an open mic session, attendees can share their own stories.
For more information, phone 360-531-2535.
Bicycle clinics
PORT TOWNSEND — The Port Townsend ReCyclery will present free bicycle clinics at the Food Co-op on Sunday.
Free bicycle repair and education will be offered a tthe co-op at 414 Kearney St., from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
PT Chili Cook-Off
PORT TOWNSEND — The 31st annual PT Chili Cook-off is planned Sunday.
The event at the Jefferson County Fairgournds, 4907 Landes St., Port Townsend, also will feature music, dancing and a horseshoe tossing.
Chili categories are family style, mild red, hot red and verde. Cornbread also will be judged.
Registration of cooks is the day of the event. Gates open at 12:30 p.m. The horseshoe contest begins at 1 p.m.
Chili and cornbread judging is at 3 p.m. Last year’s winners are this year’s judges.
The cook-off is open to the public but no tastings of chili are offered.
“It’s a picnic,” said Larry Dennison, one of the organizers. “Bring your own food.”
For more information, phone Dennison at 360-301-0120 or Pete Raab at 360-774-1219.
MARROWSTONE ISLAND
Flower show set
NORDLAND — The Nordland Garden Club will hold a standard flower show, “Wedding Bells,” at the garden clubhouse, 320 Garden Club Road, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.
The event is free and open to the public.
QUILCENE
Top dogs in town
QUILCENE — The Olympic Rainshadow Hunting Retriever Club will host a United Kennel Club-sanctioned retriever competition on Saturday and Sunday.
Handlers and their dogs will gather at the Quilcene Masonic Lodge, 170 Herbert St. at 7 a.m. on both days before heading out for the competition at 7:30 a.m.
“We expect to have black labs, yellow labs, chocolate labs, golden retrievers, Boykin spaniels, Irish water spaniels, and Chessies competing,” said Evelyn Gunther, hunt secretary.
“We’ve learned that a dog named Daisy, the nation’s top scoring Chesapeake Bay Retriever, who is from Louisiana, plans to show up,” she said.
The event is free and open to the public but spectators should bring a chair as there is no seating available.
For more information or to enter a retriever in the event. phone Bob or Evelyn Gunther at 360-765-0786, or e-mail bgunthers@aol.com.