Mardi Gras celebrations, dances, films and gardening classes are among the many early spring events offered across the North Olympic Peninsula this weekend.
SEQUIM
Mardi Gras event
SEQUIM — The Northwest Raptor & Wildlife Center will hold its inaugural Wildlife Mardi Gras celebration Saturday.
Each $30 ticket to the fundraiser will include a guided tour of the center at 1051 Oak Court in Sequim from noon to 2 p.m. and a New Orleans-style dinner and party at Kokopelli Grill at 203 E. Front St. in Port Angeles at 7 p.m.
Tickets for the event can be purchased at www.nwraptorcenter.com/event.htm.
The dinner portion of the event will include a costume contest, live music from Double Exposure and a silent auction of “numerous high-quality products” and pieces of art donated to the center, the event announcement said.
The food is being donated by Kokopelli Grill owners Michael and Candy McQuay.
Proceeds of the event will go toward the the Northwest Raptor & Wildlife Center, a volunteer-run nonprofit organization.
Grow some veggies
SEQUIM — Henery’s Garden Center, 1060 Sequim-Dungeness Way, will host a free class on basic vegetable gardening at 9:30 a.m. Saturday.
The class will cover planning, location, soil and seed selection in the first hour.
The second hour will discuss planting, maintaining the garden and special topics related to vegetable gardening.
For more information or to RSVP, phone 360-683-6969.
Landscape seminar
SEQUIM — Don Marshall will present “Successful Landscape Design” at McComb Gardens, 751 McComb Road, at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Marshall is the director of the environmental horticulture program at Lake Washington Technical College.
He also is the author of Northwest Home Landscaping, which will be available for sale at the event.
The seminar is free and open to the public.
For more information, phone 360-681-2827.
Thrift shop
SEQUIM — The Sequim Dungeness Hospital Guild’s Thrift Shop will conduct a sale Saturday.
The shop at Second and Bell streets, will be open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
All white-tagged items in the store will be half-price.
The shop is in need of volunteers and donations.
For more information, to donate or volunteer, phone 360-683-7044.
Book discussion
SEQUIM — On the heels of author Jamie Ford’s recent visit to Sequim, the Sequim Library, 630 N. Sequim Ave, will hold a discussion of his book, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, at 3 p.m. Saturday.
As the novel opens, Henry Lee, an elderly Chinese-American Seattlite, witnesses a discovery at the Panama hotel: crates of belongings left by Japanese immigrants interned during World War II.
This event triggers memories of his first love, a Japanese-American named Keiko, and the anti-Japanese sentiment the couple faced in the 1940s, both from the Seattle community at large and from Henry’s Chinese father.
Copies of the book are available at the Sequim Library and can be requested online through the library catalog at www.nols.org.
Preregistration for this book discussion is not required, and drop-ins are welcome.
For more information, visit www.nols.org and click on “Events” and “Sequim,” or contact branch manager Lauren Dahlgren at 360-683-1161 or Sequim@nols.org.
‘All That Jazz’ set
SEQUIM — Peninsula Singers will present “All That Jazz Party and Auction” at the Sequim Elks Lodge, 143 Port Williams Road, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday.
The annual fundraiser for the group will feature music by The Dixielanders, a band of young jazz musicians ages 13 to 17.
Members of Peninsula Singers will entertain with popular songs and music of past years and lead a singalong of favorite oldies.
A continuous gourmet appetizer buffet and no-host bar will be provided throughout the evening.
Tickets are $25 and may be purchased at The Buzz, 128 N. Sequim Ave., Sequim; at the Itty Bitty Buzz, 110 E. First St., Port Angeles; or by phoning Marilyn Carlson at 360-683-4473.
Peninsula Singers, a nonprofit arts organization, gives public concerts twice a year in Sequim and Port Angeles.
It also awards scholarships to students graduating from Peninsula high schools who seek further study in vocal music.
Auction, talent show
SEQUIM — Dungeness Community Church, 45 Eberle Lane, will host a silent auction and talent show Saturday.
Early bidding will begin at 6:30 p.m., with the talent show at 7 p.m.
The event is free and open to the public.
Proceeds will benefit youth programs and mission trips.
Computer genealogy
SEQUIM — The Computer Genealogy Users Group will meet at 1:30 p.m. today.
The group will meet at the Sequim Library, 630 N. Sequim Ave.
Kit Stewart will present “How to Prepare GEDCOMS When Backups Do Not Work.”
For more information, e-mail jmartin@oympus.net.
Antiques, collectibles
SEQUIM — The 36th annual Elegant Flea Antique and Collectibles Sale is today and Saturday.
The sale benefiting the Museum & Arts Center in the Sequim-Dungeness Valley will be from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day at the Sequim Prairie Grange at 290 Macleay Road.
Merchandise will include antique and vintage items or items made from vintage materials.
Reproductions, merchandise newer than 1965 and craft items will not be permitted in the vendor sale.
For more information, phone 360-681-2257 or e-mail priscilla@macsequim.org.
PORT ANGELES
History Tales set
PORT ANGELES —Photographer David Woodcock and author Tim McNulty will discuss and share slides from their book From the Air: Olympic Peninsula at the Clallam County Historical Society’s History Tales on Sunday.
The program will be at 2:30 p.m. in the Port Angeles City Council’s chambers, 321 E. Fifth St.
Woodcock’s award-winning photography is featured in Totem Poles of the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe and other publications.
McNulty, an award-winning poet and nature writer, is the author of several books, including Olympic National Park: A Natural History, The Art of Nature and Washington’s Mount Rainier National Park.
Both live in Clallam County.
Woodcock and McNulty worked together to produce From the Air: Olympic Peninsula, a book of aerial photographs of the Olympic Peninsula from mountains and river valleys to coastlines and towns.
The event is free and open to the public.
For more information phone 360-452-2662.
‘Bag of Books’ sale
PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles Friends of the Library bookstore’s “Bag of Books” book sale continues today and Saturday.
The sale at the book store in the Port Angeles Library, 2210 S. Peabody St., began Monday.
Readers can fit as many books as they can into a provided shopping bag for $2.
There is no limit on the number of bags available for purchase.
AAUW tea
PORT ANGELES SEmD The American Association of University Women’s meeting Saturday will be a tea in honor of Girl of the Month recipients and their families.
The event will be from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church, 139 W. Eighth St.
The honorees were selected because of scholarship and service to school and community. They are seniors at Port Angeles and Sequim high schools.
Saturday’s program is the AAUW’s monthly meeting. Normally, monthly meetings are held the second Saturday of the month.
For more information, phone Betty Newlon at 360-683-4806.
Sunday yoga
PORT ANGELES — A Sunday afternoon hatha flow yoga class for intermediate-level yoga students begins this weekend.
Jennifer Veneklasen, who received her training in Seattle and Tacoma in the 200-hour YogaFit program, is offering the class for eight consecutive Sundays from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Sons of Norway Lodge, 131 W. Fifth St.
The fee is $80, and space is limited.
Veneklasen is a special sections editor at the Peninsula Daily News.
She also teaches private prenatal yoga lessons at the Sons of Norway Lodge and yoga for all levels at the YMCA in Port Angeles.
To sign up or find out more, phone 360-775-8746 or e-mail jennven@hotmail.com.
Basketball tournament
PORT ANGELES — The city Recreation Division and Port Angeles Boys and Girls AAU are hosting the Spring Hoopfest basketball tournament this weekend, with 22 teams taking part.
Games will get under way at 10 a.m. Saturday at Stevens Middle School, Roosevelt Elementary School and Peninsula College.
Sunday’s venues also include the high school, with games starting at 9 a.m. and championship games scheduled for Sunday afternoon.
The games are open to the public, with an admission charge of $2 per day per adult, $5 per family and $1 for those under 18.
Eighteen boys teams and four girls teams will be playing in fifth- through eighth-grade divisions. Port Angeles has a representative in the fifth-, sixth- and eighth-grade boys divisions and seventh-grade girls division.
Cities represented include Arlington, Bellingham, Deming, Edmonds, Federal Way, Gig Harbor, Lakewood, Milton, Mukilteo, Port Orchard, Sedro-Woolley, Chimacum, Sequim and Forks.
PORT TOWNSEND
Storytelling
PORT TOWNSEND — An evening of old-fashioned storytelling will unfold at Better Living Through Coffee, 100 Tyler St., from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. tonight.
The First Friday Storynight features mythologist and writer Ben Dennis and storyteller Brian Rohr.
Dennis’ mythic interests include Greek mythology, Native American stories, European fairy tales and Hindu epic literature.
The gathering also has an open-mic section for those with tales to offer, and “the only rules are it must obviously be a story and no reading,” Rohr said.
“Everything must be shared in the ways of the oral tradition.”
Admission is a suggested donation of $10. Food and drinks will be available for purchase at Better Living.
For more information about this event, which happens every first Friday of the month, phone 360-531-2535 or visit www.brianrohr.com.
Key City auditions
PORT TOWNSEND — Key City Public Theatre will continue its spring general auditions for upcoming plays and musicals tonight and Saturday.
The auditions at the Key City Playhouse, 419 Washington St., began Thursday.
They will be at 6 p.m. today and 2 p.m. Saturday.
Shows being cast include “Dracula,” “BARK! The Musical,” “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” and other presentations.
For more information, visit www.keycitypublictheatre.org.
Mini Mardi Gras
PORT TOWNSEND — The Jefferson County Historical Society will mark the season opening of the Jefferson County Museum with a mini Mardi Gras-themed celebration Saturday.
The event will be from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the museum in Port Townsend City Hall, 540 Water St.
There will be new exhibits to see and a prize raffle.
To celebrate the opening of the McIllroy Button Collection, children can participate in a hands-on art project making Mardi Gras crowns with buttons.
Historical society board members will hand out Mardi Gras beads and serve refreshments.
Admission to the mini Mardi Gras is free.
Cubs’ annual event
PORT TOWNSEND — Port Townsend Cub Scout Pack 4479’s annual Blue and Gold Dinner will be from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.
The event at the Port Townsend Elks Lodge, 555 Otto St., is free to the public.
Pack 4479 will collect food for the Port Townsend Food Bank, and donations of nonperishable items will be accepted.
For information, phone Cubmaster Andrew Dubar at 360-379-9047 or e-mail adubar@gmail.com.
Journalist’s career
PORT TOWNSEND — Peninsula College associate professor Rich Riski will discuss the career of legendary journalist Edward R. Murrow tonight.
The Jefferson County Historical Society First Friday Lecture will be at 7 p.m. in Port Townsend’s historic City Council’s chambers, 540 Water St.
Admission is by donation. Proceeds support historical society programs.
Murrow came to prominence with a series of radio news broadcasts during World War II. He was known for his honesty and integrity in delivering the news, said Bill Tennent, executive director of the historical society.
Riski teaches journalism and has twice won the Peninsula College Exceptional Faculty Award.
Grand opening set
PORT TOWNSEND — A grand opening for AcuCenter Community Acupuncture Clinic will be held at the clinic at 511 Blaine St. today
Acupuncturist Jim Fox and staff will be available to meet potential clients, demonstrations will be held, and refreshments will be served.
Attendees will have a chance to win a free session in one of the three treatment forms Fox offers: seated acupuncture, table treatments and medical massage.
Fox has practiced acupuncture for more than 10 years after earning a master’s degree in acupuncture from the Northwest Institute of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine.
Regular clinic hours are Tuesdays through Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Clients may make an appointment in advance by phoning 360-301-0741. Walk-ins are welcome.
Boiler Room party
PORT TOWNSEND — The Boiler Room will celebrate its 18th year of operation with an all-day party Saturday.
The public is invited to the cafe at 711 Water St. for everything from a free pancake breakfast at 9:30 a.m. to an assortment of music beginning at 5 p.m. or 6 p.m. and continuing until 10 p.m.
Food will be served all day. A raffle will offer prizes.
WEST END
Sock knitting
FORKS — Participants can learn how to knit socks at a class at the Rainforest Art Center on Saturday.
The class will begin at 1 p.m. at the center at 35 N. Forks Ave.
Jessica Mishler is teaching a series of three knitting classes.
For more information, e-mail her at 12knit@gmail.com.
Shadow Theatre
CLALLAM BAY — The Oregon Shadow Theatre will present “Thumbelina” at the Clallam Bay High School gymnasium Monday.
The free program will begin at 3 p.m. in the gym at 16933 state Highway 112.
Oregon Shadow Theatre, based in Portland, Ore., specializes in the art of shadow puppetry.
Their shadow plays have toured the United States and Canada, including performances at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and at theaters, schools and festivals from coast to coast.
The program is part of an ongoing partnership between the North Olympic Library System — which operates public libraries in Clallam Bay, Forks, Port Angeles and Sequim — and Cape Flattery School District’s Creating Opportunities for After School Thinking — or COAST — program.
For more information, phone the library at 360-963-2414, e-mail ClallamBay@nols.org, visit the NOLS website at www.nols.org or phone COAST at 360-963-2103.
