IT’s ANOTHER BUSY summer weekend on our North Olympic Peninsula.
In addition to Makah Days in Neah Bay today, Saturday and Sunday — fireworks, dancing, canoe racing, street vendors, a parade and salmon bake — many other events are covered in today’s Peninsula Spotlight.
Peninsula Spotlight is the PDN’s weekly entertainment guide, published every Friday.
Events are also be listed in “Things to Do This Weekend,” which you can access by clicking on “CALENDAR” at left.
“Things to Do” is a daily feature in the PDN.
Here are additional best bets for this weekend:
Auto daredevils tonight
The World Champion Auto Daredevils are at the Port Angeles Speedway tonight.
Bob Hanna of Sequim, promoter and retired stuntman, hosts the show featuring 20 stunts including the domino crash, outlaw T-bone, ice wall crash (car ramming a 3-ton wall of ice at 60 mph) and the “death-defying Dive Bomber” soaring 100 feet through the air.
Last year the show brought out the largest crowd of the year to the Speedway, with more than 500 people in the grandstands.
Several local drivers — Kevin Smith, Lucas Gillaspy, Ed Stark, Jerry Ray, Kenny McDaniels and Ted Hutt — are expected to take part in the stunts, plus there will be clown shows and music by Chantilly Lace.
Gates open at 5:30 p.m. Music starts at 6 p.m. Stunts begin at 7 p.m.
Admission is $12 for adults, $10 for seniors (60 and up) and children 12-18; $8 for children ages 6-11.
The speedway is off the south side of U.S. Highway 101 (watch for sign) six miles east of Port Angeles and eight miles west of Sequim.
‘Harley Night’ Saturday
Port Angeles Speedway will follow the Auto Daredevils’ show with “Harley Biker Night” on Saturday.
The speedway’s main gate opens at 4 p.m., and regular races — dwarf cars, hornets, crash-to-pass cars and trucks — at 6:30 p.m.
During intermission, as many as 100 Harley-Davidson motorcycles from across the Peninsula are expected to take a lap around the quarter-mile track.
Trophies will be awarded for best looking, oldest and rattiest Harley as well as for the Harley which traveled the furthest.
Spectator prizes will also be given, including a leather jacket and gift certificates.
All motorcycles receive a special admission rate — drivers get in free and passengers pay $5.
General admission is $9 for adults, $7 for over 60-years-old and students with identification and $5 for kids 6 to 12 years of age.
Kids under 6 are free, and family passes are available for $25.
There will also be a big wheel race for kids.
SonFest in Forks
SonFest 2006 at Tillicum Park in Forks on Saturday features pony rides, live music by the Threefold band, kids’ games, raffles for gift certificates to local businesses and restaurants, a skateboard competition (on ramps and slides) plus a barbecue and country picnic.
It’s free, sponsored by Calvary Chapel Forks.
Saturday’s event begins at noon and runs to 4 p.m.
Music in the Park
The happy vibes of Sequimarimba will resonate at the free outdoor Music in the Park concert in Sequim on Saturday.
The group will play from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the state-of-the-art stage in the Water Reuse Demonstration Park, just north of Carrie Blake Park.
Bring a lawn chair or blanket to sit on — plus a picnic basket, or grab some food at a downtown store or restaurant, or at the Sequim Open Aire Market (open 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday) on Cedar Street, between Sequim Avenue and Second Street.
Mexican Folks Dancers of Sequim will perform at the market from noon to 12:45 p.m.
Music in the Park is every Saturday through Sept. 9.
The concert series is sponsored by the city of Sequim and Peninsula Daily News.
Additional sponsors are Clark Land Office; US Bank; and Bill Littlejohn, owner of Olympic Ambulance, Sherwood Assisted Living and The Fifth Avenue and Sherwood Village retirement centers in Sequim.
Music canceled
The performance of Kendra’s Big Dog Band, scheduled for Saturday at the Whistling Oyster in Quilcene, has been canceled.
New tasting room
Camaraderie Cellars winery, 334 Benson Road, Port Angeles; 360-417-3564, holds a grand opening of its new tasting room from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. today, Saturday and Sunday.
Camaraderie will also feature its wines at special summer pricing.
Head west of Port Angeles on U.S. Highway 101, turn south on Benson Road, proceed to the winery, located among trees on the right side of the road.
UGN community party
United Good Neighbors of Jefferson County begins its 2006 fundraising campaign this year with a community party in Port Townsend from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.
“This is a party with no admission fee,” says Lizanne Coker, United Good Neighbors campaign manager.
“It is a chance to come out and meet your neighbors.
“UGN wants to give everyone a chance to see where their donations go and to hear how they impact this county and its people.”
The agency has set a fund-raising goal of $295,000 this year. Brochures will be mailed in September.
Sunday’s kick-off party takes place at Jefferson County Memorial Field, Washington Street at Madison in downtown Port Townsend.
Three local bands will perform but the real reason behind the event is to provide information, said Coker.
“Last year, I must have answered 200 questions regarding the programs UGN supports,” she said.
“It just seemed reasonable to provide the community a chance to ask their own questions, on a personal level.”
United Good Neighbors provides funds for more than 30 programs in more than 20 separate agencies.
Sunday’s music begins at 2 p.m. with the Dwyer Family Band.
The Dwyer family will be followed by Aaron Vallat’s Thursday Night Drummers.
Closing the show will be the Jonathan Stratman Band.
Summer tea Sunday
The public is invited to a summer tea at St. Andrew’s Place, 520 E. Park Ave., Port Angeles, at 2:30 p.m. Sunday.
Tickets are $35 per person, $20 of which is tax-deductible, and reservations are recommended for the tea, which will include tea sandwiches, scones with jam and cream and desserts.
Ellen Pederson, a member of the Port Angeles Symphony Orchestra and the Port Angeles High School Chamber Orchestra, will play classical music on the piano.
This is the third in a series of four summer teas sponsored by First Federal Savings & Loan Association.
The funds raised allow St. Andrew’s Place Assisted Living Community to provide affordable housing for seniors and disabled adults, including those on state assistance.
For reservations or further information, phone Liz Butler, 360-417-3418, or Paula Cunningham, 360-457-6835.
They are buying
Porcello Estate Buyers is purchasing estate jewelry, diamonds, sterling silver, watches, rings, gold and silver coins and coin collections at the Port Townsend Senior Center, 620 Tyler St., from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. today, and at the Port Angeles Senior Center, 328 E. 7th St., from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.
Free appraisals. For more information, phone Porcello at 800-317-5510.
Skydiving, music Saturday
The annual “Working Girl No Labor Day” summer concert series finale will feature Vicci Martinez, a 21-year-old musical fireball from Tacoma on Saturday.
The outdoor performance is 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Olympic Cellars winery, located in a century-old barn halfway between Sequim and Port Angeles at 255410 Highway 101.
Cover charge is $12.
Tickets can be purchased by contacting the winery in advance at 360-452-0160 or on site Saturday.
As part of the “No Labor Day” finale of Olympic Cellars’ summer music series, 20 persons will skydive into a grassy field behind the winery.
Participants will skydive in tandem (in a harness, jumping with an experienced instructor) between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.
The skydivers get a free ticket to the concert and a “First Jump Club” T-shirt.
Concert in another barn
Olympic Music Festival’s summer concerts are performed every Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. through Sept. 10 in a restored 100-year-old barn near Quilcene, just south of State Route 104 along Center Road.
This Saturday and Sunday, the program will be performed by Stefan Hersh, Jennifer Caine, Alan Iglitzin, Julian Hersh, Teddy Abrams and Tomo Matsuo:
* Stravinsky: To be announced.
* Mendelssohn: Quartet in F minor for Piano and Strings, Op. 2.
* Brahms: Quintet in B minor for Clarinet and Strings, Op. 115.
The festival is in its 23rd season.
Tickets are $15 to $26, phone 206-527-8839, click on www.olympicmusicfestival.org or buy them at the barn.
For further information, call 360-452-0160 or log onto www.olympiccellars.com.
Dinner and a show
A dinner theater show, “The Great American Backstage Musical,” winds up its run at Olympic Theatre Arts, 414 N. Sequim Ave., Sequim, tonight and Saturday night.
The funny, fast-moving production evokes the bright world of 1940s Hollywood musicals.
Dinner is 6 p.m., and the show follows.
Reserved seating tickets are $35 and available at the OTA box office. Phone 360-683-7326 today from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. for more information.
PT Summer Band
Chezemoka Park in Port Townsend is the scene for the 14th and final Port Townsend Summer Band Concert at 3 p.m. Sunday.
Music will range from Richard Rodgers to John Phillip Sousa, with a special arrangement by Larry Thomas. His wife is the granddaughter of Clyde Peach of Clyde’s “Key City Parade March.”
Sunday’s What is it?
Quilcene Historical Museum invites the public to stump the experts at its second annual “What Is It and What Does It Do?” contest, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.
Bring your odd tool, kitchen implement or household device and try to stump the museum’s experts.
The event will include refreshments and entertainment.
Museum board president Mari Phillips is the organizer of “What Is It?” and will provide items from her collection as well.
The museum is located at 151 E. Columbia St. in Quilcene and is open 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays.
Go for cruise?
Michael Swirski of Seventh Wave Yacht Charters (360-808-0505; www.shadowfox7.com) will take you on a two-hour outing aboard his 45-foot ketch Shadowfox in Port Angeles Harbor and, weather willing, in the Strait.
He also takes charters to Sequim Bay, Port Townsend, Victoria, Neah Bay and the San Juans.