Celebration on Port Angeles waterfront draws hundreds

Celebration on Port Angeles waterfront draws hundreds

Jammin’ in the Park offered live bands, a volleyball tournament, a beer and wine garden, a food court and a car show.

PORT ANGELES — Hundreds of area residents turned out Saturday at the second annual Jammin’ in the Park celebration at Waterfront Park in downtown Port Angeles to enjoy live music, grab a freshly grilled cheeseburger, take a stroll along the waterfront or simply frolic with their dogs in the green grass.

“We are just loving this space,” Steve Zenovic, Nor’Wester Rotary special events officer, said Saturday afternoon.

“Last year, the wind blew like mad. This year is really nice. It is much better.”

The inaugural Jammin’ in the Park last September marked the opening of the $2.5 million downtown park at West Railroad Avenue and North Oak Street in downtown Port Angeles.

The park features two sandy pocket beaches, both with Klallam names, colored-glass markers marking the Olympic Discovery Trail’s transit through the park, sculpture, grassy areas and wide views of Port Angeles Harbor.

This year’s end-of-summer blast offered live bands throughout the day, a volleyball tournament, a beer and wine garden, a food court and a car show.

Proceeds from food and drink sales will provide scholarships to local students and other Rotary projects.

About $6,500 had been raised by early afternoon, Zenovic said, estimating a total of about $10,000 by the end of the event.

“We are doing better than last year,” he said.

Providing college scholarships “is something that we really try to focus on as one of our priorities,” said Mark Nichols, Nor’Wester Rotary past president, who is also the Clallam County prosecuting attorney, during the celebration.

The hope is the students who receive the scholarships will attend college and return to Port Angeles where they become contributing members of the community, Nichols said.

“We really are trying everything we can to help our youth get a leg up when it comes to paying for college, getting out there … and then come back.”

Jammin’ in the Park is the successor of Arts in Action, an annual summer street fair organized for about 40 years by Nor’Wester Rotary, Zenovic said.

During the past 15 or so years, Arts in Action took place on City Pier before being discontinued. The main event was a giant sandcastle competition.

“This is something that the club has decided to do in the aftermath of Arts in Action,” Nichols said, “which Rotary was involved with for years and years. This is an event really designed for Port Angeles. It is not really oriented towards tourists, although we see some of them showing up, and they are welcome too.”

________

Features Editor Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56650, or at cmcdaniel@peninsuladailynews.com.

More in News

Port Angeles teachers’ union votes to honor paraeducators’ picket line on April 8

Members of the Port Angeles Education Association voted overwhelmingly… Continue reading

Funding needed for Port Townsend homeless shelter

Operation at Legion Hall to close April 30

Port of Port Angeles renews lease for Composite Recycling Technology Center

Agreement covers 26,000 square feet at airport business park

Fire district volunteers lauded

Clallam County Fire District No. 3 recently recognized seven members… Continue reading

Clallam to continue providing deputy to Forks

Contract includes wages, mileage and maintenance reimbursement

Maintenance closes section of Olympic Discovery Trail

A portion of the Olympic Discovery Trail is closed… Continue reading

Hanna Paoluccu of Alexander, N.Y., and Rosie Berg of Nevada City, Calif., members of the Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group and working with the Jefferson County Noxious Weed Board, remove poisonous hemlock weed from along the Larry Scott Trail in Port Townsend on Monday. (Steve Mullensky/for Peninsula Daily News)
Poison hemlock removal in Port Townsend

Hanna Paoluccu of Alexander, N.Y., and Rosie Berg of Nevada City, Calif.,… Continue reading

YMCA to build childcare facility

$1-2M still needed for $6.7M project

Port Townsend Police Department recognizes award recipients

The Port Townsend Police Department recognized officers, employees, volunteers… Continue reading

Port Angeles High School evacuated due to bomb threat

Nothing suspicious found, principal says

A tree that has grown out of its tree box and shattered a nearby curb and sidewalk in the 100 block of North Oak Street is among those targeted for removal and replacement in downtown Port Angeles. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Port Angeles tree and sidewalk replacement to begin Monday

The Port Angeles downtown tree and sidewalk replacement project… Continue reading

Grant for Forks treatment plant to be discussed

The Clallam County Opportunity Fund Advisory Board will discuss… Continue reading