PORT ANGELES — Music, dancing, a slide show, a silent auction and food will welcome those who gather for tonight’s fundraiser for the effort to keep Hurricane Ridge Road open daily year-round.
The action will begin at 6 p.m. at R Bar on Front Street — across from the Port Angeles Gateway Transit Center — and go on until the bar closes, said Frank Crippen, owner of the North by Northwest surf, skate snow and kiteboarding shop and one of the fundraiser organizers.
A buffet dinner from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. will be accompanied by music and a slide show by Scott Sullivan, a musician and professional snowboarding and surfing photographer.
Dinner guests will receive complimentary beer and wine.
Bella Italia is catering the dinner, said Opal Anderson, manager of R Bar.
Also donating food will be All About Pizza, Nash’s Organic Produce and Wildfire Grill, she said.
A mixture of live music and disc jockey selections will encourage dancing during the party from 8 p.m. to closing, Crippen said.
The cost at the door will be $25 for the dinner and $10 for the party after 8 p.m.
A silent auction offering T-shirts, videos, gift certificates to local businesses, winter sports equipment and other items will begin at 6 p.m. and continue until about 10 p.m.
Limited-edition Spacecraft T-shirts, emblazoned with “HR 7 X 365 Team,” will be sold for $20 each. Only 100 shirts are available, Crippon said.
Organizers hope to raise $5,000 for a fundraising effort to generate $75,000 by Aug. 15 to match a $250,000 allocation from the U.S. Department of the Interior to keep Hurricane Ridge Road open all year, including daily in the winter.
The road, which is open daily throughout spring and summer, is currently open from November through March only on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays and closed from Monday through Thursday except on holidays and school breaks.
Clallam County commissioners have committed $20,000 to help keep Hurricane Ridge Road open seven days a week next winter.
The Port Angeles City Council will consider a similar resolution Tuesday to commit $20,000 from its economic development fund to year-round Hurricane Ridge access.
The Port Angeles Forward Committee kicked off the fundraising effort in conjunction with the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce in June.
Olympic National Park would use the $325,000 to plow the road and parking lots and to staff the visitor center and other park facilities on weekdays.