PORT ANGELES — So Junior asks Sugar if she plays that “fast music,” that hot jazz. “Yeah! Real hot!” replies Sugar, as only Marilyn Monroe could.
“Well, I guess some like it hot,” Junior says, giving director Billy Wilder the title for one of the most beloved comedies to light up the screen.
Some like it hot in Port Angeles, many still like Marilyn and everybody likes a good get-together, so the merchants, artists and historians of Port Angeles are putting on a party all weekend — starting with “Some Like It Hot” outdoors at The Gateway tonight.
And at 8:30 p.m., two contests will be held right before the movie starts. Female impersonators, as in men in drag, is one competition; the other is a Marilyn Monroe look-alike contest.
Marilyn Lamb of Cottage Queen, a women’s boutique at 119 W. First St., is sponsoring the festivities and has said she already has four guys promising they’ll take part in that female impersonation event.
Tonight’s events are also the kickoff to an expanded version of the annual Heritage Weekend, a celebration of Port Angeles’ rough-and-tumble past. April Bellerud, owner of the Odyssey Bookshop at 114 W. Front St., is the new chairwoman of the festival, begun eight years ago by Don Perry and Port Angeles’ Heritage Foundation.
All weekend long, lovers of art, vintage clothes, vintage cars and historic structures will find something to do — from a bubblegum-blowing contest to the “last dam summer” tours of the Elwha Dam. Here’s the schedule of activities, which are free unless otherwise noted.
Tonight
• “Snapshots Of Our Past,” a showcase of historical photographs and signs from downtown Port Angeles, plus slide shows from the North Olympic Library System collection, is open from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Studio Bob, upstairs at 1181âÑ2 E. Front St.
The display also features girls’ and women’s dresses and lingerie of the Victorian and Edwardian era from Marilyn Lamb’s collection. “Snapshots” continues Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• “Some Like It Hot” screens at The Gateway, First and Lincoln streets, following a female impersonator contest and Marilyn Monroe look-alike contest, both to start at 8:30 p.m. Snacks will be available; moviegoers should bring chairs.
Admission is free tonight to Studio Bob and to the movie, but donations to the Port Angeles Food Bank are encouraged at both venues.
Saturday only
Heritage Weekend Citizen of Honor George Hodgdon, who recently retired after 50 years at Laurel Barbershop, will be serenaded at 11:30 a.m. in front of the shop at 108 N. Laurel St. The barbershop quartet HVQ, with Jim Muldowney, Ian McKelvie, Joe Hudon and Rich Wyatt, will sing his praises.
• A free courthouse clock tower tour led by Clallam County Commissioner Mike Doherty will start at 10 a.m.; meet inside the front doors of the Clallam County Courthouse on Lincoln Street.
• The Port Angeles Farmers Market fills The Gateway with fresh produce, seafood and art from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• The Olympic Mountain Cloggers dance in The Gateway at 4 p.m.
• Storyteller Dennis Duncan entertains at The Gateway at 5 p.m.
• “The Belle Epoch: A Passion for Fashion in the Gilded Age” is a free show-and-tell discussion by costumer Margo Loes, custom-corset maker Lori Edwards and resident Port Angeles Light Opera Association costume designer Richard Stephens at 6 p.m. in The Gateway.
• The first Lumber Baronesses’ Tea is a chance to have savory teas, sandwiches and desserts with Port Angeles’ turn-of-the-century lumber baronesses, aka the wives of the lumber barons. Topics for conversation will include the news of the day, modes of dress, fishing and the new silent-pictures craze, from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Studio Bob, 1181âÑ2 E. Front St. Seating is limited and tickets are $12 at The Landing mall.
• Sterling Impressions Photographic invites festival-goers to come in period costume to 103 W. First St. for old-fashioned portraits; cost is $35.
• Models in period costume will pose for artists to sketch, paint or photograph at the Conrad Dyar Memorial Fountain at First and Laurel streets between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday
• Historical downtown walking tours start from the atrium of The Landing mall, each hour from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday. Cost is $12 for adults, $10 for students and seniors, or $30 for two adults and up to three children.
• The Last Dam Tours of the Elwha Dam will begin every two hours starting at 10 a.m. and continuing till 4 p.m. Saturday, and between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Sunday. Meet in The Landing mall atrium; cost is $12 for adults; $10 for students and seniors. Participants must be 16 or older and able to navigate stairs and steep terrain. Tickets and “Last Dam Summer” T-shirts will be available Saturday at 9 a.m. on a first-come, first-served basis at The Landing mall.
• Free tours of the Elks Naval Lodge, 131 E. First St. at Lincoln Street, start hourly between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. Saturday and between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Sunday.
• The Olympic Dream Machines car show parks on Laurel Street between First and Front streets from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days.
• The U.S. Coast Guard fast boat is on display on Laurel Street, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days.
• The bubblegum-blowing contest debuts at 2 p.m. both days at Northwest Fudge & Confections, 110 W. First St., with free gum provided for contestants.
• Children are invited to make their own climbing-bear toys at Sterling Impressions Photographic, 103 W. First St., between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Saturday and between noon and 4 p.m. Sunday; free while supplies last.
• The Coast Guard gives a rescue demonstration off City Pier at noon both days.
• 1950s “flashback” prices on cheeseburgers, fries, root-beer floats and sundaes are in effect at Rick’s Place, 102 W. Front St.
These are the days, Bellerud said, to go to town and learn more about local history — and one another. She’s been amazed at the stories, costumes and pictures Port Angeles residents are contributing to the weekend’s events.
“The best part of Heritage Weekend,” added Bellerud, “is discovering how much history is out there.”